


Always Earned, Never Given

by lextenou



Series: Grunt Work [1]
Category: Once Upon a Time (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Emma/Pop Culture OTP, F/F, Iraq and Afghanistan War, Marine Corps, Marine culture, Marine cursing, POV First Person, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Swan Queen Big Bang, canon compliant character death
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-09-14
Updated: 2014-09-14
Packaged: 2018-02-17 09:50:31
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 12
Words: 35,688
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2305433
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lextenou/pseuds/lextenou
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Emma Swan has done many things in her life: gotten pregnant at 17, enlisted in the Marines at 18, started a bail bonds business at 25, faced down a dragon at 28... Out of all of these, one thing confuses her more than anything else - figuring out how Regina Mills feels about her.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. From the Halls of Montezuma to the Shores of Tripoli

**Author's Note:**

> Plays fast and loose with canon according to the adage: I reject your canon and substitute my own. Beta work performed by rtarara, ohthesefeelingz and skinnylittlelesbian. Mistakes, lack of pacing, and all other problems are therefore my own and reflect solely upon my procrastination and bullheaded insistence on retaining a certain feel.
> 
> Written for the Swan Queen Big Bang 2014: Banging All Summer. Would not have been possible without Tiff and Lola!

I think that birds deliberately sing jaunty happy tunes when I'm nervous. Or maybe it's that I just notice them more when I'm already hyped up.

 

Tension lined my shoulders as I sipped my coffee. The paper bag rustled in my hand, the pastry within dragging the bag into a swinging arc. It had been a long road to get here, and the task I had ahead of me...well. Facing down a dragon was nothing compared to the task I had to complete before the day was out.

 

Since coming to Storybrooke, I've done things that mundanes can barely comprehend. Cutting a potion out of a dragon's gut, for one. Standing toe to toe with the Evil Queen. Fending off a werewolf capable of ripping my head from my shoulders. Getting one up on Rumplestiltskin in a deal. Finding my kid. Breaking the Dark Curse. Meeting my parents. Hell, I'm even the duly elected Sheriff of Rock Ridge.

 

Maybe I should start from the beginning.

 

Birds don't sing in South Carolina.

 

The heavy cadence of boots on tarmac under raised voices tends to make it clear they're not really welcome. Instead, every last inch of ground is infested with sand fleas and Drill Instructors.

 

The DIs bite your ass harder.

 

It's not exactly a place I'd have chosen given a reasonable alternative. Without it, I would never have experienced what I did.

 

My story?

 

My name is Emma Swan. I'm 29 years old. Right after I was born, my parents put me in a magical wardrobe to save me from the Dark Curse. When I was 17, I got stupid. I thought I was in love. I got knocked up. Sperm donor let me get caught with his stolen watches.

 

I gave birth in County.

 

At sentencing a couple weeks after the birth, the judge checked over my file. There was a note added saying that the boy had been adopted, and that I'd gotten my GED. I hadn't had much else to do while pregnant in County. It made sense to go ahead and get the piece of paper that said I'd finished high school level learning. It had helped pass the time, at least. The judge looked me over, looked back at the file and set it down.

 

"Miss Swan, you were arrested in possession of stolen property. You've pleaded guilty to this charge. Do you have any comments to make on your behalf?"

 

Be honest, be upfront, admit your guilt. That's what I'd been advised by the wet behind the ears public defender assigned to my case. Markham wasn't a tough judge, but a fair one. He was known for giving outside the box judgments, like the guy who was sentenced to re-do all the billboards he'd defaced, or the corrupt contractor who was sentenced to repaint City Hall. There was something poetic about that kind of justice.

 

After a deep breath, I let loose. I'd thought about this a lot over the few months prior to my sentencing hearing, and in the few weeks after the birth of the kid I'd given up. I'd entered County as a scared con and thief, easily pinched and just starting out. I wasn't going to let my future turn out the same way it had been headed.

 

"I messed up, sir. I put my trust in someone I should not have, and despite my better judgment, I let myself be drawn into a lifestyle I never really wanted. Especially not now. There is a little boy out there, that someday is gonna look me up, if he turns out to be anything like I am." Markham glanced down at my paperwork and gave a short nod. From the look he gave me, I knew I had to make it clear that I needed to change from the fuck up I'd been becoming. "When he finds me, I want him to find someone to be proud of. I want to be someone worthy of meeting him." I stopped, watching the judge and hoping like hell he understood my sincerity at wanting to become someone that rated someday meeting the little boy I'd given up for his best chance.

 

Markham pursed his lips and looked at me with a measuring, solemn stare.

 

"There's a war on."

 

"Yes, sir." I wasn't really sure what he meant by that, but I could find out by being polite and listening. I knew there was a war - it was one of the things that had made September of '01 so fucking...

 

He leveled a stern look on me. "Do you love your country?"

 

Well, shit. That was pretty clear cut. Some of the skels had been jawing about the latest change in recruiting regs over chow. Wartime law - to shore up recruitment numbers, regulations were adjusted to allow non-violent offenders to volunteer to join up and fight. I didn't think I was eligible. I was young and stupid. If Markham was thinking of letting me buck for it, though... "I believe in doing the right thing. I've never had a solid home. I'm not real clear on what patriotism means. What I do know is what happened is wrong."

 

The judge's eyes had twinkled at that, and a sly smile quirked his mouth. "Very well. Emma Swan, I am willing to defer your conviction provided you agree to serve a term of no less than four years in the United States Marine Corps. Your record will be expunged and your conviction vacated. Should you not accept this, you will be sentenced to a term of no less than two years in an appropriate correctional facility. What say you?"

 

At the time, I couldn't help it. I smirked. A clear record, and a leg up? It was a no brainer. "Semper Fi, sir."

 

I shipped out on Tuesday, December 11th, 2001. The airport in Charlotte was where we got the first taste of what was to come. Two o'clock in the morning on Wednesday, a crisply uniformed man barked out last names at the line of waiting recruits that included me. The first couple kids - we were all kids that I saw - stood around dumbly until one of our escorts got up in their faces and ripped their hide for not listening and responding with the kind of speed they expected. I'd never heard sustained yelling like that before. I was dead tired at the time, otherwise it would have been kind of impressive.

 

The second I heard "SWAN!" I leapt to my feet and went to the right line with my gear. Pretty much all I'd left Phoenix with was the clothes on my back. The rest was long since lost between moves and wearing out - and with Sperm Donor. When he'd left me holding the bag, he'd had the rest of my shit in his car. All told, it wasn't really much. A single solid paycheck and I would have been able to replace it all.

 

I had spent my last twenty on underwear, socks, bathroom shit and tampons. I wasn't exactly sure when it'd happen, but I knew I'd likely end up bleeding all over something if I didn't have them. Doc had said I'd likely not bleed for a bit until my body got settled down again. It helped that I wasn't breast feeding. They almost felt completely normal again, instead of the painful fullness and sensitivity I'd been dealing with.

 

All my stuff fit into a cheap tote bag. Some of the other recruits were showing up with giant ass duffel bags or matched sets of luggage. Dunno what they were thinking. We weren't on our way to a fucking cruise.

 

We were on our way to attempt to earn the right to be United States Marines.

 

We lined up, nice and neat once our escorts got us squared away. I could tell that a couple of the recruits were damned shocked. Guess they'd been expecting stress cards. If they'd wanted those insane pieces of laminated cardboard to wave around and in order to try and get out of duty, they should have joined the Army. In the Marines you succeed or you wash out. There are no stats modifiers.

 

I landed on the yellow footprints on December 14th at oh dark fucking thirty. Receiving was a fucking riot. That's where they checked us and our stuff to make sure we weren't trying to smuggle in any contraband, like drugs or something illegal, and issued our new gear. Fucking Hooter had three DI's all up in her shit that day, 'cause she'd been a half step slow at emptying her pockets.

 

I made it through quick, not like Animal. I don't know who the hell she thought she'd be around, but she thought it'd be a good idea to bring a fucking giant ass box of condoms, in direct defiance of the no prophylactics rule. Marines don't have co-ed boot camp. She'd be lucky to see a man before she hit specialty training. Gunnery Sergeant Johnson went on a fucking great rant over that, kept calling her "party animal trying to ruin the good name of my beloved Corps!" There is nothing quite like seeing a senior drill instructor just rip into someone, especially when they're as petite as Gunny. Before coming to Storybrooke, I'd never seen a beautiful woman be that vicious.

 

It took a few days, for some of us a few weeks, but we got our shit sorted out. It was a little rough on me at first. Had to keep a handle on flashbacks and shit, but it settled out pretty quick. It helped that it was pretty clear why the DI's were all ragging on us so hard. We weren't being promised a rose garden, we were being forged into Marines. We were being trained to travel to far off exotic places, meet fascinating new people, and kill them - without getting killed ourselves. It was a damned sight different from dealing with drunk fuckers who can't tell their ass from a hole in ground trying to tell me shit.

 

We all made it through that Black Friday just fine, and November Company 4008 started hitting it hard.

 

The first moto run was hardest. The DI's had come in crowing about how we were going to show that we were worthy of joining their beloved Corps by running five miles around the base. About half fell out, puking or just unable to keep pace. Next couple motivational runs didn't go much better. By the end of the first month, we had one recruit get sent down to PCP. It was a damned shame about Sheila, but everyone who gets sick enough to need medical that badly has to go through the Physical Conditioning Platoon to get back up to speed. And the fatbodies too, or anyone who can't keep up. We also had two malingerers figure it'd be easier to be a barracks bunny than to actually hack it. They dropped out, but I saw them again around the bachelor barracks, ready and eager to try and catch a date or a husband. The rest of us? We had a few who just wanted to get out of where they were, whether it was a dead end town or a bad situation. A couple who figured being in uniform was the easiest way to find a husband in uniform - unlike the two fakers who kept complaining about being sick to get out of duty and dropped out. Couple who believed in the Corps. Couple who wanted their GI Bill to pay for college. And me. The only one who had been sentenced to the Corps.

 

Made it really fucking funny when they started calling me Paladin.

 

It was after our first pugil match. I remembered seeing pugil sticks back when American Gladiators was on TV and always wanted to try smacking the hell outta someone with an overgrown padded q-tip. The girls started by ribbing me hard about how I'd knocked Bunny down. Somehow, the previous day had come into it, too. See, there's one exercise where you have to stand guard over someone and keep them from getting hit. I was the only one who was able to actually do it, so they were all talking story like I was some kind of white fucking knight.

 

Really fucking funny.

 

Especially once someone remembered that goddamned commercial from the eighties. Fucking giant chess board, and the knight is going around kicking ass, before morphing into a Marine. If they'd only known that ten years later I'd actually be getting called the White Knight and the Savior, I'd never hear the end of it. It was bad enough being known as Paladin.

 

One day a few years after boot, we had a 96. 96 blessed hours of freedom from duty, to do whatever we wanted. We were in Germany, on leave from the base there before shipping off for another tour in the sandbox. I went to a bar with a bunch of buddies. Somehow, we decided it was a good idea to have pizza delivered. Fucking asshole came up and tried to steal a slice. We pushed him off. He came back, tried to steal it again. I'd had just enough beer to not care who the fuck this guy was. I stepped up and faced off with the fucker, telling him to back the fuck off and leave us alone. All my buddies backed down and left me to run point with this guy. I was fucking pissed, ready to tear off his arm and beat him with it.

 

He finally backed the fuck away when I started threatening him with a fucking castration.

 

I turned back to my buddies. "What the fuck, Tig!" I landed a punch on one solid shoulder, glaring at my squadmate. "You couldn't back me up there?"

 

Tig shrugged and took a swig of beer with a solid smirk in place. "Figured you had it in hand, Paladin."

 

"God fucking dammit."

 

Everybody busted up laughing, just like every other goddamned fuck faced time they caught me doing stupid shit like that.

 

Tig and I met in SOI, both training for 0351. School of Infantry was an interesting time, especially for the 0351 Assaultman. We learned a lot about things we never had to do more than a handful of times. At least, I didn’t do them much in the Marines. Once I got out, I used those skills a lot more, and even more once I landed in Storybrooke. In SOI, Tig and I would get teamed and always came in solid on our breaches and assaults. At the end of the day, all the learning about bombs, breaching buildings and giant assed shoulder mounted rocket launchers meant fuck all once we hit the Fleet. Tig and I ended up assigned together, and made our first two tours together. Made it easy to work with someone who just got me, who understood what I was doing and why.

 

There was one Marine Corps Ball that Tig brought a date to. Oh, fuck we ragged the hell outta that asshole. Tig’s date came strolling in all dressed to the nines, and there was fuck face Tig, grinning like a damned fool in blues. To this day I still have no idea how that fucker managed to convince that actress to come to the Ball, and we all heard about it for fucking months afterward. I think that ragging is why Tig always insisted that I would get mine and that fucker would be the one there leading the teasing.

 

Everything was easy, it was solid, it was good. Tig was like the best sibling I could have ever hoped for that I wasn't related to. We had more than a few close calls. I don't think about it much.

 

The best times were downtime. Time we spent hanging out, time spent just bullshitting. Hell, half the time it was hurry up and wait, so we got a chance to do a lot of that hanging out. Long stretches of boredom interspersed with brief flashes of unmitigated terror.

 

I stayed in six years. Bonus for staying in as a lance coolie 0351 was beau coup bucks for a single Marine and more for me as a Corporal. I made sergeant six months later. The stripes look good on me. The Silver Star doesn't. The ceremony came with far too many bodies attached. The ceremony was an excuse to get me stateside and start working on cleaning me up as a public relations stooge. It didn't matter. No amount of money would have convinced me to stay in after that op went tits up, and being paraded around as some kind of fucking hero for it? Fuck that.

 

It was during terminal leave that I met up again with Pidgin. Hadn't seen that fucker since our only tour together, then I met up with him again as I was counting down my days until I got out. He'd been a solid grunt, and had my back more than a few times. Smart fucker, too. Could have easily made a different MOS, but he always said the best Military Occupational Specialty was the one where you had the chance to cross the wire and see action. He'd invested his retention check and managed to double the fucking thing like some kind of honest Bernie Madoff. Came to me and ran an idea by me that sounded damned fine since I’d had no fucking clue what I was going to do after leaving the Marines. We were going to start a bail bonds business once we got out, 60-40. He’d put up the bulk of the up front cash, I'd put up the rest and do the bulk of the catching of jumpers, he'd handle the business end and make sure we were squared away legally.

 

Part of the reason why I agreed so readily was because of our time together in the sandbox. One day, Pidgin and I were on patrol. We spotted a pile of trash next to a random hut, just below a window. Discarded cardboard with "Made in China" stamped on it in two languages, an empty and half melted Coke bottle, papers, and a couple dead rats. We needed to clear it - he knew I could, and I knew he could stand point. The rest of the squad was clearing their own parts of the patrol. It was our duty to check this out and deal with it, or call for backup.

 

I reached over the pile and took a look, my heart pounding. I saw it then. "Fucking fuck."

 

"Found one?"

 

"Motherfucking goat fucking son of a fucking fuck!" A visual check confirmed no additional wires to watch for. All that was left was the plastic shell and a single stripped breadboard. "It's a fucking broken ass PlayStation."

 

Pidgin laughed and clapped me on the shoulder. We continued our patrol pretty uneventfully, just the usual brief rifle reports in the distance. Most of our patrols were like that for Pidgin and I. Good guy.

 

When I got to Storybrooke, one of the things I immediately appreciated was how clean the streets are. There are no piles of trash hiding possible explosives. Just amnesiac fairy tale creatures, until I broke the Dark Curse. Now...well. They remember.

 

It was a sweet fall day in Norfolk when I signed my discharge papers. I'd served honorably, and would be receiving all the rights and privileges that came with that. The sun wasn't as hot as usual, and I had completed my terminal leave without issue. As soon as I was officially released, I'd be able to join Pidgin up in Boston to settle the business. He'd left a month before.

 

Outside, a platoon of would be officers ran by, their moto run taking them all around the base. The steady cadence of their raised voices and stomping feet took me right back to that long ago December day when I'd joined, with one major difference. A robin was singing.

 

Like I said.

 

Birds don't sing in South Carolina.

 

Grunts do.


	2. Everyone Else Has a Second Hand Opinion

Living in Storybrooke was a nice, quiet, peaceful existence, broken only by moments of unmitigated pants shitting terror. It’s a lot like my service days in that respect. In other ways, it’s drastically different. Jumping from the Marines directly into bail bonds was definitely an easy transition, and it was just as easy to transition out of that and into life in Storybrooke.

 

Pidgin’s actual name was Corporal Jason Okamura. He liked to call himself blasian, claiming both his parent’s heritages, black and Asian. I usually just called him some variant of fucker or asshole. It’s funny, out of everyone I ever knew, he was probably the smartest at finances. Within two years, between he and I, we managed to build our tiny bail bonds business into one of the premier agencies in Boston. We would get referrals from lawyers and cops, new clients coming to us asking for our help. Usually, I’d end up tracking the jumpers at least a couple days a week. It was one of the more sedate jobs I’ve ever had.

 

Working with Pidgin was great. When we got mad at each other, we were able to work it out pretty quickly. To this day, he’s still a solid friend I know I can call on anytime.

 

By the time my twenty-eighth birthday rolled around, our business was sufficiently mature enough that he’d come to me and floated the idea of selling off the business. In the four years since we’d started, we’d made enough money that we could either take a couple years off, or pursue something we just wanted to do for the love of it.

 

"Pal, check this out, see. Look at the balance." Pidgin pointed at the computer screen in front of him. I walked around the desk and looked, my eyes widening.

 

"Jesus fuck, dude, when did that happen?" That number could not possibly be real.

 

"Last week, hey. I got the kind investment came back, right?" As should be obvious, Pidgin’s name came from his speaking patterns, picked up from his formative years in Hawaii. It wasn't until I'd met others from the islands that I realized how awesome it was to listen to.

 

"Shit, that’s why you wanted me to come in when I was done tracing that fuckwit cheater. Damn..." I looked closer at the screen. "Okamura. Why is my name listed as the account owner."

 

He grinned. "This one's yours, yeah. Mine's the same."

 

I stared at him for a moment before punching him in the arm. "Drinks, you fucker."

 

He grinned. "Kill!"

 

When I got home to my apartment that night, stone cold sober, it was later than I had originally wanted. The drinks with Pidgin in celebration had been great, just lasted longer than I'd thought. I'd managed to stop by the bakery before they closed and tossed my birthday present to myself in the back of my car. The ancient Beetle had been with me since my first leave in the Marines. I'd had my belongings restored to me and had been able to make the trip to Phoenix. Sperm Donor had left the car for me, with a note inside saying that I didn't understand, but I would someday, and apologizing. He'd signed the title over to me as some kind of peace offering. I quickly fell in love with the Bug. It stood out amongst the Ford dealerships that were the bases. There was some kind of rule that as soon as you made your stripes as a Private First Class, you got your PFC vehicle, a Ford Mustang. They were always too little for what I would pay, and too much for what I needed. The Bug was easy to maintain, and it's quirks worked with me.

 

I grabbed the small box from the backseat and locked the car before heading in. No one would steal the car. It was way too distinctive, and way too old to be worth anything. But it never hurt to be careful.

 

I tugged my boots off and set up the single gourmet cupcake on the counter. I pushed a single star candle into the frosting and sighed.

 

I stared at the cupcake for a long moment. Joining the Marines had been one of the greatest experiences of my life. It had shown me how strong forged bonds could be. It had shown me that I could find family anywhere. I had more siblings than I knew what to do with, and many families had embraced me into their own. The bonds there were ones that spoke to me in depth, helping me through more than I could say. I could not keep count of the number of family events I had been invited to, and fully embraced into.

 

Pidgin had told me tonight about a girl he'd met. She was from the islands too, and he had already started to fall hard for her. I think that was also a big contributing factor to him getting the idea to sell the business and get into something maybe less dangerous or less demanding.

 

I'd not had many entanglements over the years. I had far too many of my fellow Marines come out of boot and SOI with issued wives and kids, and sometimes it felt like half the female Marines I knew were knocked up, married, or both. I always felt so out of place in that I neither wanted nor did I need a spouse while in. It was safer for me that way. Less entanglements, less complications. Then there was the joke that had too much truth in it. If I was meant to have a spouse while in, the Marines would have issued me one.

 

I was turning twenty-eight. I'd given the kid up ten years ago. I wondered sometimes where he was, how he was, who he was. Our birthday was one of the days I really let myself think about it without diving too deeply.

 

Maybe having had him before going in is what let me resist the pressure to partner.

 

I wasn't in anymore. I hadn't been for a long time. I was successful. I was able to stand on my own two feet and take whatever came at me.

 

Even with all this, staring at that cupcake, all I could feel was the longing of loneliness. The ache within my soul that clamored for family. For a family that was mine, not just one shared.

 

"Another year gone." The flickering flame burned brightly before me. "Time to make a wish." I closed my eyes and thought of the kid. I thought about family. "I don't want to be alone anymore."

 

I blew the candle out.

 

There was a knock at the door.

 

My eyes snapped open and I went to the door. I checked the video feed and frowned. Why on earth would a strange kid be on my doorstep at midnight?

 

I opened the door and looked at him curiously. "Can I help you, kid?"

 

He looked at me with wide, dark eyes. "Are you Emma Swan?"

 

"Yes." If he was a process server, he was the shortest one I'd ever seen.

 

"Did you give up a baby in Phoenix ten years ago?"

 

My grip on the door tightened. Fuck.

 

I nodded, once.

 

"My name's Henry. I'm your son."

 

I stared at him for a long moment before opening the door and inviting him in. The chin was right. The eyes were right. Even the rambling walk was right.

 

"I, uh. Gimme a minute." I fled to the bathroom and stared at myself in the mirror for a long moment before nodding to myself and emerging. I did not know why this kid was here. I did not know what he wanted. But what I did know is that I could find out.

 

"Hey, do you have any juice?" There was a clang of the fridge door opening. "Found it!" I walked around the corner to see the kid - Henry - pouring out a glass of juice into one of those stemless wine glasses an ex had insisted were fashionable housewarming gift.

 

"Why are you here, kid?"

 

Henry took a giant gulp of juice before setting the glass down. "I'm here to bring you home." I raised an eyebrow at his presumption. "You need to come home with me."

 

"And where is home, exactly?"

 

"Storybrooke, Maine."

 

I'd never heard of it before, but then again, most of the places my mates were from were places I'd never heard of before meeting them. "I can't take you home, kid."

 

"Sure you can. It's Sunday now."

 

"No, I mean, I have a life here. This is my home. Besides, I'm sure your parents are worried about you."

 

"I don't have parents. Just a mom."

 

"And of course you don't have her number."

 

"I do. But I'm not telling you."

 

I picked up my phone, unlocking the screen. "That's fine, you can tell the cops."

 

"You don't want to call them."

 

"And why not, kid?" My thumb hovered over the green button, ready to make the call.

 

"Because I'll tell them you kidnapped me."

 

"And because I'm your biological parent, they'll believe you." He nodded, a smug little smile on his face. "Right." I cleared the number and sent a quick text to Pidgin to let him know I was agreeing to the time off he'd practically shoved on me. "And what will it take for you to not be a little shit?"

 

His eyes widened slightly at my language. Fuck. I would have to watch that. "Just come home with me. I'll explain on the way."

 

I sighed and looked at my cupcake. It had looked like it would be good. I took a finger of frosting. "Alright, kid. Lemme just put my shoes on." Blackmailing conniving little shit.

 

I slipped my boots back on. It had been nice to have downtime, brief as it was. I grabbed my favorite jacket and my go bag before turning back to the kid. He'd just finished rinsing out his glass and leaving it in the sink. At least he had been raised with decent enough manners. Aside from the blackmail.

 

As soon as we started crossing the bridge out of downtown, he began talking. "Do you believe in fairy tales?"

 

"Like Snow White and the Seven Dwarves?"

 

He bounced slightly in his seat. "Yeah! And Sleeping Beauty and Little Red Riding Hood and-"

 

"I guess so." The kid seemed eager to share. It didn't take much prompting for him to spill.

 

"Good. Your family needs you."

 

"My family? I'm an orphan, kid."

 

"Well, yes, but only because that was the only way they could save you. You're the Savior. You're supposed to break the curse!"

 

I frowned. The highway was speeding beneath the Bug's tires, miles falling away as he started to talk.

 

One of the things that had always annoyed the shit out of my mates was how easily I could call them out on their lies and bullshitting. It was something I'd always been able to do, which had also gotten me in trouble as a kid.

 

Henry wasn't lying. Whatever he was talking about, he believed it fully and completely.

 

The fact that what he was talking about was that I was apparently the long lost daughter of Snow White and Prince Charming only made it slightly more complicated.

 

I pressed my foot down on the accelerator. Wherever this kid's family was, I had to get him back to them as quickly as humanly possible.

 

Something was wrong here.

 

"-but then Ruby, that's Red-"

 

"Like Little Red Riding Hood?"

 

I could see him grinning when I glanced over. "Yeah! So Ruby tried to leave and everyone was sad but gonna support her, but then Granny had a heart attack and Ruby stayed but I think that was the curse!"

 

Something was very definitely extremely, deeply wrong.

 

When I finally pulled up in the middle of nowhere, Henry's ringing words in my ears - everyone is cursed and doesn't remember, you're the Savior, you have to defeat the Evil Queen - my credulity was being stretched just a bit. If he were anyone other than the kid I'd given up, I might have thought about it differently. But he was. And if I was caught with him, I would be arrested, no question.

 

"Where is this place?" I took in the desolate two lane road with faded markings.

 

"Just ahead. See? There's the sign." Henry pointed and the brightly lit "Welcome to Storybrooke!" sign came into view. I wasn't sure how I'd missed it. We continued on until we got the middle of a picturesque main street.

 

"Where's your house, kid?" Henry fidgeted in the seat next to me. "Kid..."

 

"I don't want to go there!"

 

I seethed silently for a few minutes before spotting a man walking a Dalmation through the rain slick streets. The one street light was flashing yellow. I felt like Lightning McQueen, having just pulled into Radiator Flats.

 

"Excuse me, sir? Can you tell me if you know this boy?"

 

The man looked at me through his round framed glasses. His eyes widened in what I assumed to be shocked recognition. "Henry! Your mother's been looking for you all night!"

 

"You do know him. That's a relief. Can you tell me where he lives?"

 

The man nodded, his glasses bouncing slightly on his nose. The dog watched me curiously, its head cocked to the side. "The Mayor lives just down on Mifflin Street. The big white house. You can't miss it."

 

I turned to Henry. "You're the Mayor's kid?" Exasperated with the little shit's machinations, I pulled away from the man who'd kindly given us directions, waving my thanks as I swung back into my car.

 

Henry mumbled under his breath as I pulled away and headed in the direction the stranger had indicated. "She's not my mom, she's the Evil Queen."

 

I rubbed my forehead and pulled onto Mifflin Street, slowing down until I spotted the house. It was huge and white. It wasn't a house, it was a fucking mansion. "Henry, she's your mom, not an Evil Queen." Jesus fuck, this kid was troubled.

 

I parked and pulled myself and the kid out of the Bug. I could hear the door opening, an attractive and worried brunette running out onto the sidewalk, her heels clicking in off-tempo. "Henry!" She wrapped him in a full body hug, checking him over from head to toe for any injury. The gray dress she wore hugged all the right curves, and I was grateful she only had eyes for her son. It'd be a hell of a first impression to make the Mayor think I was some kind of perv. "I was so worried about you. Where have you been?"

 

"I went to find my real mom!" He pushed past her and ran inside. I winced. That could have gone better. From behind her, a scruffy man with a badge, I assumed the Sheriff, murmured about checking on the boy. He turned and went inside, allowing me to dismiss the threat he posed with the .38 revolver on his hip.

 

She raised deep, pained eyes to me, shock plainly filling her. "You're Henry's birth mother?"

 

I grinned sheepishly. Sweet Mother of God, she was hot. I tried very hard not to stare at her cleavage. The fact that the gentle swell of her breasts was now emblazoned firmly on my mind meant I had definitely failed at that. "Uh. Hi."

 

She shook her head, clearing away the shock. She eyed me from head to foot, much the same as she had just done to her son. This time, there was something different about it. I couldn't quite figure out what. She met my eyes and smiled. "How would you like a glass of the best apple cider you've ever tasted?"

 

I grinned, laughing softly. "Got anything stronger?" The few beers I'd had with Pidgin did not prepare me for the clusterfuck my night had become. Plus, with the way that ass moved before me, the night called for something with a burn and a kick.

 

We stood in the foyer for a minute after entering the house, I assumed waiting for the Sheriff to report on Henry. I shifted on my feet, my boots squeaking slightly against the hardwood floor. "My name is Emma. Emma Swan."

 

She smiled. It didn't quite reach the worry in her eyes. "Regina Mills. I'm the Mayor of Storybrooke."

 

I chuckled. Heavy footfalls sounded from the stairway and the scruffy Sheriff came back into view. "The boy is in bed. If there's nothing more?" Regina nodded to him. He glanced back and forth between us for a moment before bowing his head slightly. "Good night, ladies."

 

The door clicked shut behind him and Regina turned to me. I smiled, trying not to show my awkward nervousness. My thumbs looped into the pockets of my jeans. The slight curve of her lips made my fingers twitch against the keys tucked deep into my pocket. "Let's get you that drink, Miss Swan."

 

Regina poured a generous draught of what smelled like good scotch. Accepting the tumbler from her, the ice sliding over itself in the crystal, I murmured my thanks. She led us what looked like a study - rich leather seating and bookshelves crammed with books. A desk stood in one corner, and one wall was almost entirely taken up by a large fireplace. I was grateful for the fire. It was kind of cold.

 

"Can I..." I took a sip of scotch. I was right. It was good. "Can I please just start by saying I have absolutely zero interest in taking your boy from you." Regina startled, looking at me with wide eyes. "As far as I'm concerned, you're his mother. My connection with him is an accident of biology. You are the one who has actually been here, wiping his nose and putting on band aids."

 

Regina leaned forward in her seat, the neckline of her dress dipping slightly. I shoved my nose into my tumbler to prevent myself from staring. "Thank you, Miss Swan. That is...reassuring to hear."

 

I glanced over at her, smiling. Her cleavage was ultimately distracting, and I found myself glancing at the subtle swell. I leaned forward and set my drink down, threading my fingers together and resting my elbows on my knees. "I am concerned, though. He seems to have a fixation on me being some kind of Savior and needing to be here." Regina frowned at that, her thumb tracing over the patterns on her glass. It didn't really look like she'd recognized that I was ogling her shamelessly, which was definitely a boon. She reminded me of Major Kolwachek's wife, all glamour and fire. I couldn't let that distract me from finishing my thought. I had to make her understand I didn't want to hurt her. "I don't want to take him. But I also don't want him running away from you."

 

Regina bristled at that. Her eyes flashed. "I am more than capable of handling my son, Miss Swan."

 

I raised an eyebrow at that, leaning slightly further forward. One hand reached out toward her, almost touching hers as she set her glass down on the low table. "Is that why he came and found me in Boston on his own with stories about an Evil Queen and a Savior?"

 

A sharp glare answered me. "I may occasionally be strict. I don't think that makes me evil, do you?" I spread my hands in a placating gesture, leaning back into my seat. It wouldn't do to keep being aggressive toward her. I'd made my point. "I will concede the point. Having you near may be safer until he gets this out of his system." She eyed me, a hint of the same look I'd seen from barracks bunnies in her sharp gaze. "What is it that you do in Boston?"

 

I grimaced. "Nothing of importance. I've already arranged time off." I raised my hand to halt her from interrupting me. "Purely precautionary. He found his way to Boston without you knowing. If he tries to run to me again, its safer for me to be in town, where you can find me. You are his mother, and you call the shots."

 

She watched me for so long I thought I might have said something wrong. After I'd started to really want to fidget, she nodded, once. "Very well, Miss Swan. Take a room at the bed and breakfast. I will meet you there at nine am, where we can continue this conversation further."

 

I smiled and stood. "Thank you, Madam Mayor. I look forward to it."

 


	3. Have Landed and Have the Situation Well in Hand

My alarm went off bright and early at 0800 hours. It was decadent to be able to sleep in like that. I stretched and got out of the luxuriantly comfortable bed, beginning my morning routine. Push-ups, sit-ups, bicycles, squats, lunges, jumping jacks, all interspersed into my morning run. I had absolutely no idea what to expect of the sleepy little Maine town, but I knew that sleepy little towns like it typically hid the darkest secrets. I'd gotten a text reply from Pidgin, confirming we were solid, and asking for me to keep him updated on my plans so he could decide whether to sell the name of the business or mothball it entirely.

 

The softly chirping birds filled the air, swooping low over trees and grass. The slight nip of the morning air indicated it would soon be time to break out my winter running gear. It was perfect weather for working up a sweat, just chill enough to keep me from overheating like was so common in South and North Carolina. The sticky summers of Virginia were not much easier.

 

The steady beat of my feet against the asphalt and concrete lengthened as I circumnavigated the town. I smiled at townspeople I passed, all staring at me like some kind of nine days wonder. They'd get used to me, or not. It's not like I showed up in order to disrupt their mundane lives. I would end up doing so, but I didn't mean to.

 

After about thirty minutes, I made it back to my room at the bed and breakfast. The attached restaurant looked solid and pleasing, and I was glad I'd requested a pot of coffee and some pastries before I left.

 

I took a quick shower and partially dressed before Regina would be there. All I had left to put on was my pants, which I really didn't like putting on until the last minute. Habit left over from my Marine days. Something about those alphas just instilled it in me. There's something retarded about uniform regs that make it so you have to put on every other fucking piece of clothing before you put on your pants. At ten til nine, a sharp knock rapped against my door. I wasn't sure what I was expecting as I swung the door open with a cup of coffee in my hand.

 

What I found was a crisply attired Mayor holding a large basket of apples.

 

And I stood there, without my goddamned pants.

 

Her eyes raked me from head to foot and I watched her. I couldn't really tell what she was thinking. Not that it really mattered. She'd caught me in my goddamned skivvies. How in the fuck was I supposed to recover from that?

 

"Did you know the honeycrisp tree is the most vigorous and hardy of all apple trees? It can survive temperatures as low as forty below and keep growing." She grasped an apple, her fingers caressing it's smooth skin. "It can weather any storm. I have one that I've tended to since I was a little girl. And to this day, I have yet to taste anything more delicious than the fruit it offers." She extended one out to me, and I accepted it with my free hand. The brush of her fingers against mine made me acutely aware of the fact that I was standing in front of her with no fucking pants.

 

"Thank you." I stepped back from the doorway, gesturing to the empty space. "Come in, Madam Mayor. Let me just...put on some clothes." I could feel my cheeks heating as she entered, her arm brushing against mine. As I shut the door, I knew I was in a world of fucking trouble.

 

"Thank you, Miss Swan." She placed the basket down next to a chair, then sat in it regally, surveying the room. My kit was already unpacked and tucked away in the closet, but I still glanced around the room to make sure I didn't leave any underwear laying about. I grabbed the jeans I'd left out and slid them on. "Given my son's predilection for sleeping in as much as possible, I would have expected you to still be in bed, Miss Swan." The soft curve of her smile took any sting from her words as she watched me button my pants.

 

"I used to. Habits change." I threaded my fingers through my hair, moving it out of my face as I took another gulp of coffee. It was downright decent, especially compared to a lot of the slop I used to drink in the field. "You wanted to talk about the kid?"

 

She tilted her head slightly in affirmation as I sat cross legged on the bed. It was always the most comfortable position for me. My mug rested loosely on my knee. "I have given it greater thought and I find your assessment of the situation to not be objectionable." Her eyes dipped to my shirt. I knew it was clean, I'd just washed it. I hadn't spilled some of that raspberry jelly on it from that danish, had I? "My son is at an impressionable age. His therapist believes his...fixation...to be his way of making sense of the larger world."

 

I nodded slowly. I'd heard similar beef from other head shrinkers over the years. "With you cast as..." I couldn't say it. It was too ludicrous.

 

"The Evil Queen."

 

I smiled. "Queen, yes." I looked her over measuringly. She really did look every bit as regal as I would expect of a fairy tale queen reincarnated in backwoods Maine. "Evil...I don't see it. I just see you. Regina."

 

She cleared her throat. "Thank you, dear. It doesn't change the fact that my son only sees me as this Evil Queen, and you as the Saviour meant to 'put an end to my evil', I believe is the way he phrased it this morning."

 

I winced. "That can't be easy, hearing that kind of crap from your kid."

 

Regina bowed her head slightly. "I love my son more than anything else in this world. I just wish he could see that."

 

My voice was soft as I gripped my coffee mug in both hands. I really, really wanted to reach out to her and hold her hands. "He is a very lucky kid." I smiled at her. "What can I do to help?"

 

She leaned her head on one hand. "To be honest, I'm not entirely sure. I can't help but to think that were he to know that we were not at odds, it might cause harm." She looked at me, her gaze as piercing as the glares from my commanding officers. My CO's never wore Gucci and Prada. "He is a headstrong boy. Find out what his plan is. Maybe then, we can come to an understanding." The husky note of her voice sent shivers down my spine. Jesus fuck, I was in trouble. "He gets out of school at three o'clock and walks to his therapist." She raised an eyebrow at me, her implicit order clear.

 

I bowed my head, knowing damned well snapping off a salute was not the appropriate response. "As you wish, Madam Mayor."

 

As soon as she left, I leaned against the door and exhaled shakily. Being around her was dangerous, every bit as dangerous as Henry had hinted at as he'd told me about the fairy tale creatures in the town.

 

But not because we wanted to kill each other.

 

I decided to spend the day wandering around the town and getting to know people while I waited for school to let out. On the drive last night, Henry had said everyone just walked around in a haze, not really remembering what happened. He'd had me pull over to show me the illustration he claimed was my father putting me into a magic wardrobe. It was pretty obscure, but the blanket in the picture looked a lot like the one I'd been found in.

 

I'd made the appropriate noises as he'd talked, letting him spill his entire story in a descending chatter that didn't stop until we got to Storybrooke. He'd explained that his teacher was Snow White - my mother - and his therapist was Jiminy Cricket, and the doctor was -

 

"Oh!" I caught the bag of loose groceries, the paper crinkling in my hands. Thankfully the bottom was stacked solidly with boxes, making it easy to catch. "I am so sorry, are you okay?" I smiled at the woman who had almost crashed into me, the single large bunch of celery sticking out of the top of the bag dangerously close to stabbing me in the eye.

 

"I'm fine, are you okay? That was almost a nasty fall you had there." The woman smiled at me thinly, her pretty features tight with stress and worry beneath her loosely bound blonde hair.

 

"Thank you, I'm fine." She took the bag back from me and began to walk away. "Again, I'm sorry for almost running into you. I didn't see you there."

 

I waved her off, her last words resonating oddly within me. I wasn't exactly inconspicuous. Part of the reason why I loved my red jacket was how obviously it drew people's eyes to me, distracting them from their marks.

 

I wandered all over the town until I started getting hungry. I met a couple people, struck up conversations. Their vagueness was alarmingly consistent. Some of them seemed to remember leaving town, but couldn't tell exactly when. Some referred offhandedly to half remembered activities over the years, but couldn't remember exact dates.

 

I don't care how old you are, you remember when you went to Disneyland in more detail than just "a long time ago".

 

The diner was as nice as I expected. The menu showed me exactly the kind of Americana diner food I was craving. The waitress, Ruby, in shorts that were entirely far too short, and a shirt open way too low, delivered my sandwich within a couple minutes with a wink and a smile.

 

It wasn't until I was picking at the last of my fries and enjoying a post-lunch cocoa that I was interrupted.

 

"I see you've decided to stay."

 

I looked up to see the scruffy Sheriff I had noticed vaguely behind Regina the night before. "Observant. That's good for a cop."

 

He chuckled softly and gestured at the seat opposite me. I nodded and extended a hand, inviting him to join me. "You are not from around here." He settled into the seat with a casual ease. I leaned against the wall behind me, and he tracked my movements.

 

"Boston. I drove here from Boston." He was a hunter. What he hunted I couldn't say. He moved the same way some of my deep South grunts moved when they talked about wandering in the forest.

 

"To return the Mills boy?" His skepticism was well deserved. If I hadn't done it, I would have not believed it either.

 

I let out a self-deprecating laugh. "It's hard to hand him over to a cop when he says that he's going to tell them that I kidnapped him."

 

"Ah." Ruby caught his eye and he waved her off, before he leaned back in his chair and kept his steady gaze on me. "Are you planning on staying?"

 

I shrugged. "Depends on if I have something to keep me here." With the way Regina had been talking, I really hoped I would have a reason. Watching that woman walk was like liquid sex.

 

"My name is Graham. I'm Sheriff." He glanced down at the shining badge on his belt. "Obviously." He laughed softly. "It's my job to keep the town safe." He smiled and leaned forward, his arm resting against the Formica table top. "And you are the first visitor we've had in quite some time."

 

I frowned at that and sipped at my cocoa. That did not sound right. The town was a picturesque little slice of small town America, ripe for tourism and destination vacations. Hell, a thug that could pass as a neighbor could retire to a two story Victorian and spend the rest of his life growing tomato plants. I doubted Sheriff Graham knew how to read a crowd to be able to recognize someone who meant trouble. Then again, he had watched me pretty hard from the time he sat down.

 

As casually as possible, I gestured idly with my cocoa. "When was your last visitor to town?"

 

He shook his head and waved his hand, his brow furrowing in concentration before the confusion cleared as he spoke. "Years ago. People don't typically pass through here."

 

I nodded slowly. The consistency of everyone's stories was starting to get to me. "Nice town."

 

"We like it well enough." His gesture encompassed the diner and the larger town. It may have been imagination, but my hackles were rising. He wasn't asking what he really wanted to know.

 

I took another drink of my cocoa. "Am I welcome?"

 

He tilted his head, watching me with kindly curious eyes. With his lack of guile, he'd be eaten alive by my former squadmates. "That depends. Have you been welcomed?" He was entirely far too easy to read. It had been simplicity to get him to ask.

 

"I've not been made to feel unwelcome."

 

Graham chuckled, his posture relaxing as he stood. "It's been a pleasure, Miss?"

 

"Swan. Emma Swan."

 

"It has been a pleasure, Emma Swan. I hope to continue to see you around."

 

I toasted him with my cocoa and sat back in my seat, processing the unsubtle interrogation. The fact that as soon as I'd hinted that Regina had not tried to kick me out of town led to a complete change in his demeanor...

 

Interesting.

 

Very interesting.

 

I shrugged it off and continued my investigation of the town. Down the street from the diner, I stopped into a dark, cluttered pawn shop. Typically, I could find reliable enough information from pawn shop owners on my marks. This one looked unlike any other pawn shop I'd ever been in. Hanging over a display case with what looked to be antique knives was a baby's mobile, festooned with shiny purple unicorns. I reached out for it, wondering what it would feel like.

 

"Have you lost something, dearie."

 

The smooth, accented voice came from approximately fifteen feet directly behind me. Male, forties, caucasian, leaned heavily on a cane. He was reflected in a large mirror placed directly on the wall in front of me. I turned.

 

"Afternoon, sir. I presume you're the Gold of Gold's Pawn Shop?"

 

He dipped his head in a nod, then looked me over the same as Regina had done. Something about his gaze left me feeling oily. I couldn't quite pinpoint it. "You're new in town."

 

"Just arrived. Figured I'd take a look around. See what there is around here."

 

He smiled. The back of my neck itched.

 

"I've plenty of items here." He gestured to the clutter. "For a price."

 

"Looks like you've got a little bit of everything." I swept my gaze around the room, keeping him solidly within my line of sight. "I suppose I know where I need to go when I need something just right."

 

He smiled again. It didn't make me feel better. "What's your name, dearie?"

 

I turned to face him full on. He watched me with quiet calculation. "Emma Swan."

 

"Ah." His eyes fluttered shut briefly as he took in my name. His smile widened into a toothy grin. "Welcome to Storybrooke, Emma."

 

Somehow, the way he said my name unsettled me most of all.


	4. Cleanest Bodies, Filthiest Minds, Highest Morale, Lowest Morals

By the time three o'clock rolled around, I was certain of a couple of things: the town was weird; Gold was creepy; Regina was hot. Sheriff Graham had nodded to me as I passed by Town Hall. If she was serious about me staying in town, she would let him know. At least, that was what I expected. She seemed the type to have her hands in everything.

I'd stopped and picked up one of the local papers - the Storybrooke Mirror, editor in chief Sidney Glass. The articles were the typical fluff pieces I'd expect from a small town paper. As I flipped through it, I made a mental note to visit the offices of the paper and see the man. I had a hunch the following day's paper would have a hatchet job about me if I didn't.

The school bell rang out loudly and I watched and waited. Soon enough, the familiar head of tousled brown hair came out of the school, followed by a petite brunette with a pixie cut. I watched and waited, and saw the immediate perking of the kid as he spotted me. He scouted the area, confused, before running to me, the petite brunette in tow. 

"Emma! What are you doing here?" His arms flung around my middle as I absorbed the impact of an excited ten year old against me.

"Figured I'd come and say hi. How are you doing, kid?" I ruffled his hair and smiled at the brunette walking up to us. "And who is this?"

"I'm great now that you're here! This is my teacher, Mary Margaret Blanchard. Miss Blanchard, this is my mom, Emma Swan." He watched us closely. I blinked at the introduction and extended a hand to the woman that Henry insisted was my mother.

"I gave birth to him is all. Hello, ma'am, it's a pleasure to meet you." She grasped my hand with soft fingers, smiling widely as she absorbed what I was telling her.

"Please call me Mary Margaret! Henry has been talking about you." She smiled at him, genuine affection in her gaze. I wasn't sure why, but I immediately liked the woman. "Are you staying in Storybrooke?"

I shrugged. "I could be convinced." I looked at the kid, who watched me with wide, hopeful eyes. "What are you up to now that school's out, kid?"

He shifted his backpack higher on his shoulders. "I was gonna walk over to Dr. Hopper's office." 

I nodded as though this was the first I'd heard of it. "Want an escort, kid?" Next to me, I could feel Mary Margaret stiffen.

His excitement immediately jumped back up to eleven. "Yeah!"

"Do me a favor and give me a minute, would you?" He nodded and stood a few feet away. "I know this is a small town, and I birthed the kid, but I am a stranger. You are more than welcome to come with us, and if you're done for the day, I'd appreciate being able to talk to you about Henry." I glanced over my shoulder at him, smiling. 

Mary Margaret's worry immediately cleared and she smiled broadly. "I'd like that. Please, call me Mary Margaret."

"In that case, I insist you call me Emma." I smiled at the kid, before giving a sheepish grin to his teacher. "I've met his mother already. Not sure if he mentioned that."

Mary Margaret nodded. "The Mayor, yes. He didn't mention it, but he hinted that you'd brought him back from Boston?"

The kid was shifting from foot to foot. Had to make this quick. "Yeah. We can talk about it more later. Let's get him to the doctor's." 

The teacher was nice. Sweet and honest face, open demeanor. If anyone was running a con in town, they'd pick her as their first mark. 

The kid chattered on about his day, filling the air with his breakdown of why it was awesome to be learning about the Revolutionary War. As we stopped in front of an office building, Henry turned to Mary Margaret and politely requested a private audience by demanding that she give us a minute.

I winced.

"You could have been a bit nicer about that, kid."

"No time. Have you made any progress on Operation Cobra?"

"Operation what." 

"Operation Cobra! You asking the town about their past! Everyone was super vague about everything, weren't they."

"Well, yeah." The kid was about half a click past excited that I was validating his ideas, but I wasn't trying to.

"Ask Miss Blanchard about my mom. I gotta go! See you!"

I watched him go, shaking my head. I turned to Mary Margaret and laughed softly. 

"He's demanding that I ask you about his mom."

She shook her head, and gestured toward the park. "Mayor Mills? She's been in office as long as I can remember. She's a good mayor. Takes care of everything. We never really have any problems." Mary Margaret shook her head, smiling at me as the confusion cleared from her face. "I'm not sure what he's after."

I shrugged. "Me neither."

We fell into easy conversation. Even if the kid had turned out to be completely full of shit, I would have been able to be good friends with Mary Margaret. Something about her was just soothing and open, and it wasn't long before I was telling her things about how I grew up, what I'd done - the only thing I didn't really touch on was what I was doing in Storybrooke. She didn't ask. 

The kid's conviction was persuasive as hell. I shared it with Mary Margaret and she confirmed it. He was absolutely certain that the entire town was amnesiac fairy tale characters, and had cast everyone in their roles. She filled me in on some of the others. The dwarves were a surprise.

So was the Sheriff. According to what Mary Margaret had heard from Henry, Sheriff Graham was actually the Huntsman from the tale, kind hearted but following the Queen's orders. I didn't really know, but I'd seen hints of it so far during my time in Storybrooke, so I was willing to accept it.

It is really easy to drink the kool-aid when everyone around you is swimming in it too.

By the time Mary Margaret told me about Graham's fairy tale alter ego, we'd wandered over to the park. There were a bunch of kids playing on the jungle gym about 75 yards away. Their shouts and screams filled the air nicely as a dog wandered by.

Mary Margaret let out a surprised cry. I turned slightly and immediately took off after the running, hooded figure that looked like a teenager, Mary Margaret's purse tucked under one arm like a football. I juked left just as the purse snatcher turned to cut through a small clump of trees. I wrapped my arms around the thief - female, solid, muscled - and hooked a foot around one ankle, my other knee impacting at her leg bender. She went down with an alarmed cry, cursing and spitting invectives at me. I ignored them as I grabbed her wrists and pinned them at the small of her back, holding her down with the distribution of my body weight.

"May I?" Graham's voice was amused, coming from my right. He must have been just on the other side of the trees when I took down the thief. I shifted, allowing him to grab the perpetrator firmly before I stood. "Nice takedown. Will you come by the station and give a statement?"

I nodded. "Sure. Lemme just make sure Mary Margaret gets home safely."

He smiled and hauled the thief to her feet. I ignored her glare. "Thank you." He escorted the struggling woman away and I watched for a moment. 

Taking Mary Margaret home was simple. She was a bit shaken by getting knocked to the ground like that, so I distracted her with small talk until she was safely inside. Her place was nice. Looked like a big converted mill or something, subdivided into apartments. I declined her invitation to stay for tea, but promised to be back later in the evening to check on her. 

The station was quiet when I got there after grabbing some chow from the diner. The thief from earlier was napping in the cells at the back of the room. Graham stood as I entered.

His smile was too wide and too welcoming. He must have talked to Regina. He gestured to a chair for me as he sat back down.

"Hello, Emma. Thank you for helping with this apprehension." I dipped my head and dropped into a chair angled to be able to view the main entryway. "After seeing your skills in action, I took the liberty of running a cursory check." The muscles in my back wanted to tense up. I forced myself to remain relaxed as I listened, nodding at him to continue. "It's an interesting jacket you have. Lot of experience at handling yourself, I'd say." I shrugged.

"I get by."

Graham leaned back in his chair, watching me contemplatively. "I'm told you will be staying with us for a while."

I tilted my head, smiling. If that was what Regina had told him, I'd gladly go with it. 

"I've also heard that you're taking some time from work to stay here. I'm not sure about you, but personally, I prefer having something to do with my time."

"I can usually find ways to fill my days." And if the opportunity ever presented itself, I'd be able to find ways to fill my nights too. Ways that included a certain Mayor.

"I've been looking, for some time, for someone to help me out around here. As a Deputy. With your record, I've reason to believe that you'd fit. If you're interested, I'd be willing to give you a go."

If Regina had told him to do this, I would be very surprised. Being offered a position like this would be far more permanent than just staying for a little while. And there was Pidgin to think of. 

I looked at him for a long moment. He continued to smile at me. His vagueness surrounding how long he'd been looking for a deputy set off more alarm bells in my head.

"Let me think about it. I'll let you know tomorrow."

Graham dipped his head and stood. "Thank you. Here's the report to fill out on the incident in the park."

I smirked as I accepted the pages. "I haven't even accepted the job yet and you're already giving me paperwork."

I left and went back to Mary Margaret's apartment. When she opened the door, I could see she'd been crying. We sat and talked about Henry for a few, then she jumped a mile when my phone went off. It was Regina.

"What can I do for you, Madam Mayor?"

"Henry's missing and you're not in your room."

I frowned. "He's not with me."

"If you are lying to me, Miss Swan-"

"I have no reason to lie to you. Like I've told you, he's your kid. I'm here to help you."

She sighed deeply and was about to speak again when a beep interrupted. I had another incoming call. I glanced at it and frowned.

"Regina, can you give me a minute? I've got another call I have to take. I'll call you back."

"Fine." She hung up. I swiped at the screen and picked up.

"I never said I accepted the position."

"You will." I could hear Graham's smug tone through the phone lines easily. Either he had great instincts or I wasn't good at hiding my interest. "I'm at the hospital. We've had a patient go missing. We need your help."

I raised my eyes to the ceiling and cursed inwardly. The universe had a way of really fucking with me. Mary Margaret reached out to me and rested her hand on my arm. I shot her a quick smile to let her know I was fine. "Alright. You've got me. Read me in."

Graham gave me the thumbnail rundown and I jotted down the particulars on the back of Mary Margaret's grocery list. An insistent knock came at her door as I was finishing up with Graham's orders. I turned to see Mary Margaret letting a flustered and overly excited Henry into the apartment. 

Fucking fuck.

"You have two seconds to fill me in on why you aren't at home with your mother." He looked startled at my tone, but shook it off and turned to Mary Margaret.

"You did it! He woke up!"

The sudden wide eyed guilt on Mary Margaret's face told me that while I'd been fielding a job offer, she'd gotten into trouble that started and ended with Henry. 

I laid a hand on the kid's shoulder. "What did she do, Henry?"

"She gave Prince Charming True Love's Kiss and woke him up! He woke up!" Henry grinned at her, almost bouncing in his excitement. "Don't you see? You broke his curse!"

I sighed and pulled out my phone. I shot Regina a quick text to let her know I had found Henry and would drop him off ASAP. I shot Graham a text that I was following up a lead and would join him in the woods.

I knelt in front of the kid and grabbed his hands, bringing his attention to bear on me. "Kid, I need you to be honest with me right now." He nodded, his grin splitting his face. "You had Mary Margaret go to the hospital today and kiss a patient?" He nodded, his hair falling over his forehead. "And the patient woke up." 

"Yeah! And he's all confused and doesn't remember right, so he's going to go to the Troll Bridge!" Henry looked over at Mary Margaret, smiling. "That's where you fell in love. He's gotta be there, I just know it!"

I bit the inside of my cheek against the growl that desperately wanted to erupt at his conviction. "Mary Margaret, can I talk to you for a second?"

We stepped into the kitchen as Henry flopped on the couch, tugging his book out of his backpack and flipping through the pages. Mary Margaret sighed. "I never thought giving him that book would lead to this."

"You gave him that book? Where did it come from?" I had to get out of there and track down John Doe, but something was nagging at me about that damned book.

"I've always had it. I found it in my closet one day and I gave it to him. He's been having such a rough time of it with his mother, I thought it might help. I'm afraid it hasn't been as much of a help as I'd hoped."

I shook my head, filing that information away for later investigation. "Back to the subject. Who was it that Henry had you kiss tonight?" 

She blushed. "A coma patient. John Doe. He was so convincing that I just...went along with it. I usually just read to him, but Henry-"

"Right. I get it. Do you have any information about this man?"

She shook her head. "No, he was brought into the hospital without any identification."

I nodded. "Watch the kid. I have to try and find this man. Where's this Troll Bridge Henry was talking about?"

"About five miles out of town, due east of the clocktower. I could come with you?"

I shook my head. "No. I need you to keep Henry occupied and out of trouble. I will call you and tell you where to bring him. Put your number in my phone." 

In another minute, with a firm command to the kid to keep researching in the book until I called for him, I was off to find John Doe, aka Prince Charming, aka my father.

The woods in Maine are dark and oppressive at night if you've never wandered through them before. The trees are thick, with moss and low shrub growth covering the ground and fallen logs. Thankfully there were signs pointing out the way to the Toll Bridge, each one bearing a small handwritten R inserted between the T and the O in Toll. Troll Bridge. Cute.

I cast my Maglite all over the forest, calling for anyone out there to respond. I received no response. My light cast over the hillside and I spotted a fresh disturbance of the growth. I followed it to the babbling creek below, where a tall, well built man in a hospital gown lay crumpled against the rocks and dirt. 

I pulled out my phone and called Graham. He was minutes away, so I directed him to meet me at my car. I'd have to hump the guy out myself. I gave him a quick check and confirmed he had no obvious injuries other than bumps, bruises and scrapes as should be expected from wandering around the forest barefoot, with no proper clothes. 

Thankfully he was slimmer of build than the last person I'd had to carry out. When I'd had to carry Tig out of the shit, the only thing that had let me do it was the adrenaline. That and Tig had lost twenty pounds when we left behind one lower leg, still in boot. 

I hauled him over my shoulders, as I'd been trained to do, lifting him with a single motion and setting off to my car. He was heavy, dead and limp across my upper back, but nothing I wasn't used to. His breathing was shallow, but not labored, probably from overexerting himself so quickly after waking from his coma. Graham had pulled up with the squad car, and we dropped John Doe into the backseat. 

Later at the hospital, after I'd picked up Henry and Mary Margaret, I waited impatiently for Regina to show. I'd called her as I'd pulled up to the apartment, and she'd asked for me to take Henry to the hospital to wait for her. Mary Margaret had decided to join us, probably prompted by Henry's enthusiasm to bring Prince Charming and Snow White back together.

I heard the telltale click of her heels before I spotted her. When I found her, she was leaning against the nurse's station and talking with the blonde I'd almost run into outside the supermarket. Regina nodded and the blonde rushed past me, pushing her way into John Doe's room. 

Behind me, I could hear Mary Margaret and Henry confused as to the woman's identity, only to be replied to with a sharp protestation of her identity as John Doe's - David Nolan's - wife.

"Thanks for coming." 

Regina smirked slightly, lines of stress obvious around her eyes. "Thank you for finding Mr. Nolan. I didn't know who he was when I found him on the side of the road."

I raised an eyebrow at that. "You brought him in?"

"He was injured. I called the hospital to bring him in. Since he didn't have any identification, I've always been listed as his emergency contact." She glanced over my shoulder at the bustle of the room containing the reunited Nolans. "Mrs. Nolan and I only recently became acquainted. It wasn't until this afternoon that I finally saw a picture of her husband and realized that he was here. Then he went missing and..." There was a nagging pull in my gut that said that was a blatant lie. I ignored it, watching her gather herself and continue. "Where was Henry?"

I grimaced, glancing over my shoulder at the sullen boy sitting next to a shocked Mary Margaret. "He convinced Mary Margaret to kiss Nolan, to break him out of his curse." A flash of an annoyed frown crossed those beautiful features and I shook my head. "I think finding out that Nolan has a wife is gonna disabuse him of the notion that he's meant to be with anyone else. And if not, we can figure something out."

Regina narrowed her eyes at her son, a dark and cold fury settling in across her frame. I reached out and laid a hand just above her elbow. My fingers were still cold from tramping around the woods. She turned her gaze on me and my finger twitched against her shirt. "Thank you, Miss Swan. I believe I understand the situation now. Henry! It's time to go home." She waited imperiously and I shifted to stand next to her, my hands shoved into my back pockets. I shifted from foot to foot as he walked over. I needed to stop touching the woman. It was wreaking havoc on my control.

Henry shuffled over, his chin stuck out stubbornly. He looked like he was itching to argue his case, but before he could get a word out, his mother burst his balloon by leaning down to look him in the eye. "Young man, you and I will be having a conversation about your insubordination." She leaned in, her hand wrapping around his arm. He stared at her, his eyes wide at her calm, controlled voice. "Do you know what insubordination means?" He shook his head, not looking away. "It means you're grounded. No screens for a week." He broke his gaze away from his mother's then, his eyes dropping to the ground. His shoulders slumped. 

Apparently, he hadn't thought that would happen. It made me wonder what kind of disciplinarian Regina was, that grounding was enough to completely take the wind out of his sails. 

Regina straightened, her hand on her son's shoulder, and met my eyes directly. Her eyes cast over me from head to foot, once, slowly. I hadn't thought I'd messed my clothes up while I was out wandering in the woods, but I couldn't tell if I met muster or not. She leaned in, her voice soft and husky. "I do hope you're enjoying my town, Miss Swan."

With that, she took Henry and left. 

When I turned around, Graham was smirking at me.


	5. Be Polite, Be Professional, and Have a Plan to Kill Everybody You Meet

After David Nolan woke up, things settled pretty well. I quickly fell into life as a small town Sheriff's deputy. Storybrooke was a quiet small town in the middle of nowhere Maine. It's part of what made the entire situation so fucked from the get go.

There'd been a fuck up with the kid at the hospital the day after Nolan woke up. Somehow Gold had gotten involved and that smarmy motherfucker had convinced the kid he was going to steal a baby. Not cool. I'd managed to get him to back off by agreeing to owe him a favor. I didn't really pay much attention to how he worded it, but I'd managed to get him to back off both Mills. Whatever he had on them was now defunct. Period.

Henry had side eyed me hard over that one. I spun it with his book. If Rumplestiltskin had something on the Queen, what if that what was making her evil? He'd backed down quick after that.

He'd gone fairly quiet, and before I knew it, it was Friday, and time to deliver the week's work to the Mayor. I'd have to give some thought to finding more permanent digs, since staying at Granny's was nice, but having my own private space was always something I preferred if I could get it.

I walked into Regina's office carrying the sheaf of paperwork she'd requested and stopped just inside the door. The strains of music were familiar. Far too familiar. Guitar. Light bongo. Drums. One of America's favorite singer-songwriters. My hand tightened around the knob as I closed the door.

_...I hear their cries, just say if its too late for me..._

"Regina." She looked up as the door clicked shut. I couldn't look at her. I stared at the wall, the meaningless whorls of black and white ostensibly before my eyes. There was one that looked a lot like the edge of the ceiling from the hospital at Camp Bravo.

What whirled in my head was cast in dusty, blooded shades, heat prickling at the back of my neck on phantom remembered sweat. I clenched my jaw against the memories, the emotion and sensation of knowing, despite the closed door behind me, that someone was waiting just behind my shoulder to take me out. It was hollow plywood. Even a .22 could make that.

My voice came out quiet, rough and tightly controlled. "Change the song, please."

She looked at me, soft unspoken questions rolling off of her, but did so. I couldn't tell her. The words do not exist in the English language to relate the thoughts in my mind.

There are very few times in my life when I want to hear Jackson Browne's "Doctor My Eyes". It usually involves alcohol or pharmaceuticals. Most people don't get it.

I'm damned sure Regina didn't get it.

She changed it anyway.

Soft piano strains filled the quiet air, leading into the innocuous tones of Jim Brickman and Martina McBride's "Valentine".

She remained quiet, watching me. My jaw clenched tighter.

In the sandbox, its expected. You're going to have rough days. No one really remembers to remind you that those days don't stop just because you're not drawing a government paycheck anymore. If they did, I didn't hear it. Maybe I wasn't in a place where I could.

I sure as fuck got out of Bravo quickly.

Not like Tig.

I looked over at Regina and gave her a tight smile. "Got your paperwork here. You want it on the desk?"

It was a breath.

A mere paperclip falling.

The slightest sound from the other side of that fucking hollow door.

The wall to my left was the only spot of adequate cover. Hidden behind the door, anyone coming in would have to be identified or halfway in the room before they spotted me. More than enough time to handle the threat. I'd spotted it my first time in the Mayor's office. With her desk situated the way it was, she'd be the immediate target. Any threat could be handled well before they got off a shot with cover fire, allowing her to duck out of the way.

I'd be able to assess the situation and respond appropriately.

I rolled smoothly into a kneeling position, my weapon drawn and in a modified Weaver by the time the door began to swing open. The far sight drew level just above the doorknob, drawn to bear on the bulk of the door. My .38 would have no problem making it through the plywood. I'd rather my SMAW but we take what we have when it comes down to it.

A sharply inhaled breath from my left - the last place I'd noted Regina - came just before I heard sharp, commanding tones.

"Get out of my office. Now." Low and chilling, I'd heard those tones more than once, growled or yelled by CO's. I remained in position, a trickle of alertness wending down my spine with a frisson. The muscles in my shoulders strained to pull as I waited for further action.

After a startled moment, the door closed with a softly murmured apology.

The quiet click sounded and my eyes swept the room.

Regina remained sitting in her chair, watching me with that same inscrutable gaze. I lowered my weapon, holstering it with a soft slide of metal against leather.

She didn't move. I glanced at her just long enough to see her eyes narrow slightly.

I exhaled, emptying my lungs as fully as I could before speaking. "I don't suppose you could-"

"Not ask?" She leaned back, watching me with a measured gaze.

I stood from my now-awkward crouch, not daring to look at her. If she pitied me, or judged me, I couldn't see it.

Her voice, when it came, was deliberately quiet and as close to emotionless as I'd ever heard. "How long has it been since you've reacted like that?"

I shifted on my feet, awkwardness filling my limbs. I stared at the lower edge of her desk, still unwilling to meet her gaze or look anywhere near her face. "A long time."

Her chair creaked slightly as she shifted her weight. From the corner of my eye, I could see her leaning back. "Years?"

"...Yes." My upper back was tense, the muscles a firm cord across my shoulders. If I don't make sure to stretch after I have an episode, I'm always sure to be sore as fuck the day after.

Softly, she spoke. "Deputy Swan." I raised my gaze to meet hers, my jaw clenched against what I might find written on her face. "Thank you." I frowned in confusion. I hadn't done anything to rate that. "Have you been able to find out anything further from my son?"

"He's convinced we have to find a way to end the curse." Her eyebrow raised at that, and she stood, moving out from behind her desk. She moved to the low couch along one wall of her office, lowering herself to it with a sigh. "He's not sure how. After the thing with Ashley's baby, though, I think he's taking a step back."

Regina shook her head and looked at me curiously, relaxed against the cushions of the couch. "When Gold tried to take Ashley's baby?"

"Yeah. I, uh-" I wasn't exactly proud of my behavior, and having to tell her about it was embarrassing as fuck. "I kind of lost my temper at Gold. But I managed to convince him to back off of you and the kid, so there's that."

Regina stared at me. "Back off of me?"

I shrugged. "The kid was hysterical, and Gold was insinuating that he had something on you." I shifted awkwardly on my feet and looked at the low table before the couch, unwilling to stare openly at the Mayor the way I really, really wanted to. "So I told him any deal he had with you was off if he wanted me to owe him any favors."

"You...owe him a favor?" The softness of her voice was damnably distracting.

"Yeah. I wasn't about to let him get away with terrorizing everyone. I remember you told me about how much of the town he owns."

"Right." She leaned against the side arm of the couch, her legs shifting at the edge of my vision. "Thank you."

"You're welcome." I risked a glance at her, to see her looking off into the distance. "If that's all?"

She looked at me directly, one side of her mouth quirking into a half-smile. "It is. Enjoy the rest of your day, Deputy."

I nodded and left, my nerves shaken to hell from that encounter. One thing to be said for Regina Mills, she was a damned fine distraction from my own memories.

I made it to the hallway when I felt the ground shake in an all too familiar way. The possibilities flashed through my mind - mortars, earthquake, car hitting the building - before Regina came tearing out of her office, wild terror in her eyes, and phone clutched in her hand.

"The mines! The mines have collapsed!"

A chill swept through me. "Henry."

Her hand wrapped around my arm. "He wouldn't-"

I rested my hand over hers. "He thinks that's where Snow White's coffin is. He would." I gripped her hand in mine, my thumb rubbing against the smooth skin. "We need to get over there."

Regina and I sped over there. Graham was already there, with a bunch of the townspeople. Archie stood nearby, devastation and worry in every line of his body.

"Graham! Sitrep!" My shout carried easily over the lingering voices of the townspeople, murmuring together at the sight of me arriving with the Mayor. Graham appeared startled by my words, but replied quickly.

"Henry was seen entering the mines before they collapsed. We need to identify a way in behind the collapse." I nodded, once. "I've got a couple people getting something ready to lower someone into whatever we find." He glanced at where Regina was pacing.  
"We may not have much time."

"Understood. I'll fill Regina in. Make sure the structure is solid enough to hold me and Henry regardless of what state I find him in." Graham's mouth narrowed into a thin line. "How far out is the ambulance?"

"Five minutes. Once we find a hole, you can be in within sixty seconds."

I nodded and grasped his shoulder. "Get it done." I left him to it and made my way over to where Regina was pulling at a large piece of plywood. I quickened my pace as she struggled, finally getting close enough to wrap my arms around her and pull her back.

"There's an old air shaft, I can get in there, I have to get in there, Henry!" She struggled in my grasp, trying to break free.

"Regina!" I'm not sure if it was the slight shake I gave her, or the tone in my voice, but she stilled and looked at me, seeing me again for the first time since we'd received confirmation that Henry was down in the collapsed mine. "I will go in and get him. You know I can do this. I will bring your son home to you."

She inhaled shakily and nodded. I turned my head and spotted the shaft she referred to. It would be just big enough for the two of us. Provided he wasn't needing a backboard. Within a short few minutes, everything was set up and ready for me to step into the harness and fetch the kid.

Regina stopped me, her hand trembling against my forearm. She stepped in close, her teary eyes searching my face. I didn't think I'd had a chance to get dirty yet. I wasn't sure what she was looking at. "Bring him home to me."

I nodded, smiling slightly at her.

Harnesses pinch. It doesn't matter how well fitted they are, if they're not adjusted right, they pinch like hell and can leave big ass bruises all over. Leroy was trying to adjust the straps before I growled at him to step off and let me fucking well do it. I adjusted the harness snugly and clipped in. Graham handed me a radio tuned to the right frequency.

"I'll radio when I find him and when we're ready to be pulled up, or every five minutes after I land." Graham nodded. I stepped over the hole, and met Leroy's squinted stare. "Lower me down."

The descent into the mine smelt of musty dirt and the ionization that comes with raw power. If there were exposed power lines down there, it'd be a hell of a fight to get the kid out. In the brief time I'd spent in Storybrooke, I'd started growing fond of the little shit. He gave his mom way too hard of a time, but he was starting to admit to me that what he really wanted might not match up with what he was saying. He was a tough nut to crack, always convinced he knew what was right, and absolutely sure that his mom was cursed. As I descended about halfway into the shaft, a tingle raced along my skin, leaving me unsettled.

I didn't know then what it was.

As I cleared the shaft, I started casting my Maglite around, trying to spy anything. At the base of the shaft, I spotted a torn scrap of cloth, and in the distance, I could see something glittering in the dimness.

"Henry! Can you hear me? Henry! Where are you!" I called out his name as I gained my feet. I pulled out the radio and shot a quick message up that I landed fine and was disconnecting from the rig. My watch was set for five minutes and counting down.

"Henry!" The room I was in appeared fine, the dust from the collapse having had just enough time to mostly settle. The tingle along my skin had intensified as I landed, fine sparkles of dust raised beneath my feet. "Henry!"

"Emma?" Distant and echoing, I could hear Henry's voice. I stopped and listened. "Emma, where are you?"

"I'm at the base of the air shaft kid, where are you?" His voice sounded like it was coming from multiple directions at once. The danger of caverns and caves is how easy it is to get lost without something to give you bearings.

"Oh! I'm in the next shaft over, I'll be right there."

"Henry! What direction are you in? I can come to you, just tell me where you are! Henry!" One minute and twenty seconds to go before next check in.

"I'm fine, I'll be there in just a second. I ran deeper into the mines when the collapse started, I was already heading to the air shaft room." He fell silent for a long moment, then I saw a dim ribbon of light flash against the wall. I made my way over, radioing up that the kid was fine and I was trying to get to him. The rocks crunched beneath my boots, sending small puffs of dust up into the air. The direction that I'd seen the light flashing from was just past a partially collapsed wall structure. This place was set to fully collapse any minute.

My boot crunched on something that did not send up a puff of dust. Instead, it cracked.

I lifted my foot and shined my flashlight down.

There beneath my foot was a piece of glass that looked exactly like the glass coffin in Henry's book. I shone the light under the wall.

There, beneath the rubble, was the remains of Snow White's coffin that she'd laid in a death like sleep, exactly as it was drawn in Henry's book. I backed away from it and stared at the partially hidden structure, trying to reconcile what I had seen into my reality.

"Emma!" A small projectile of a human being landed in my arms and I wrapped my arms around him. "Isn't this place awesome!"

I resisted the urge to roll my eyes. "It'd be more awesome if we weren't in it. Come on, buddy. We've got some climbing to do." I led him back to the harness location, radioing up that I'd found him. I could hear a muffled cheer from topside.

"Thanks for coming to find me!"

I stepped to the harness and thumbed the radio. "We're clipping in, I'll call for a lift." I started hooking the secondary harness to the kid. "What the hell were you looking for down here?"

He watched me attach the harness to him and he grinned at me. "Snow White's glass coffin! I didn't find it, but I did find the fairy dust that they mine for!"

I clipped us both in, firmly ignoring the piece of glass that I'd stepped on and what it had led to. "You're not supposed to be the one mining for fairy dust, kid, that's the dwarves job." I thumbed the radio again, calling for us to be lifted out as I wrapped around him. He was in high spirits, but a single bounce against a wall had a way of snapping necks. "Besides, didn't I tell you I'd take care of investigating this?"

"But Emma..." He whined.

"No buts, kid. I had to come down in here after you because you put yourself in a lot of danger today. That's not okay to do, to either me or your mom."

"You're not finding anything!" That tingle against my skin dissipated as we ascended.

"I'm finding out plenty, kid, just not telling you until I have a better idea what I'm finding." Like a glass coffin that should not exist, people with beyond awful memories, and a Mayor that no one can remember electing into office.

"You have to tell me, it's all part of Operation Cobra!"

"Tell you what, if your mom agrees, you and I will hang out and I'll fill you in on everything I've found. Deal?"

"Deal!"

In another few breaths, we were pulled from the shaft and pulled to the side. Henry was unclipped and immediately pulled into his mother's arms, wiggling in protest. I smiled at the sight as I was unclipped. As soon as my feet touched the solid earth again, another shudder erupted from below us and the air shaft let out a large plume of dust.

Henry's eyes were wide as he looked at the shaft, then at me in quietly dawning fear. Regina watched me, her hand buried in her son's hair, holding him close.

I cleared my throat and was handed a bottle of water. I took a swig and leaned down to ruffle Henry's hair.

"Glad I was able to find you in one piece, kiddo." I met Regina's eyes and took another swig of water. She straightened and smiled at me. "Thanks for letting me do my job, ma'am."

Regina's smile softened and she leaned into her son, holding him with the ferocity of a woman who had almost lost her child. "Anytime, Deputy."


	6. Attacking in a Different Direction

After that first week, it was pretty obvious to me that I wasn't going anywhere. Like I'd said to Graham before, I would stay in Storybrooke if given a reason to do so. 

I may not have a chance in hell with her, but in Regina Mills, I definitely found a reason to stay. It was weird and complex, given Henry stood between us. If he weren't her kid, if he'd been adopted by someone else, I'd still have found Regina more than fascinating. There was something about the way she smiled at me that had me trying harder.

Graham had saddled me with night duty off and on. For the most part we were able to work out a schedule. If we were needed, we'd get a dispatch call, and roll out. We settled pretty well. He was a good guy to have on your side, and we worked alright together.

Henry had calmed after the mine experience. Something about recognizing that he was almost trapped underground with no way for us to get to him seemed to really curb his enthusiasm for exploring. At least for a little bit. I got a call every other day or so to track him down. Dunno what it was, but for some reason Regina kept not knowing where the kid was. I wasn't really fussed over it - Storybrooke's size and friendliness made it every bit as safe as base. No one ever breached our perimeter without us knowing, and everyone kept an eye out for everyone else. Half the time I'd find him at his castle by the beach. 

"What story are you up to today, kid?" I swung myself up onto the castle next to him, looking down at the large book held in his hands. 

He rubbed his fingers over the picture and spoke softly. "The Huntsman."

"Graham, huh? What's happening?"

He shot a quick look at me I had difficulty reading. It could have been annoyance or just darker thoughts in general. "If she takes his heart, she has control over him." His forefinger circled around the red glowing heart held in the Evil Queen's hand. "She can tell him what to do, and he has to do it." He flipped the page. The heart was in a box, and the Queen was commanding the Huntsman off to find Snow White. "But she has to be holding it to force him to do something." He pointed at the box. "This is where she tells him to find Snow White and bring back her heart."

I scrutinized the picture closely, my arm behind him supporting my weight. "Looks like she wasn't holding it when she told him to do that."

He nodded slowly. "He did it 'cause she told him to, not 'cause she forced him to. She could've, 'cause she has his heart, but he did it 'cause he chose to." He frowned down at the book. "That doesn't make him a bad guy, does it?"

A non-committal hum rumbled low in my throat and I wrapped an arm around his shoulders. "The difference between good and bad is a hard one. I've seen good people do bad things, and bad people do good things." I gestured at his book and he flipped the page. The Huntsman stood over Snow White, a dead stag cut open next to her. "What's important is that you do the right thing. Would it have been right for the Huntsman to kill Snow White?"

Henry shook his head vehemently. "If he'd done that, you wouldn't be here."

I chuckled. "Forget about me for a second. If Snow White was dangerous, and the Huntsman just let her go, would that be right?"

He frowned. "But she's Snow White! She's a good guy!"

I nudged him with my shoulder. "Is she? Why?"

"Because she's Snow White!"

"What if you didn't know who Snow White was? Would she still be good?" He looked up at me, confusion and fear on his face. "Y'ever read the Fantastic Four?"

"Yeah..."

"Tell me about Doctor Doom."

He brightened slightly and smiled slightly. "He went to college with Mr. Fantastic and is their enemy and rules Latveria."

"Is he a villain?" Henry nodded vehemently. "How do the people of Latveria see him?"

He looked at me with wide eyes. "He saved them from an evil king and now they live in peace." I nodded and smiled at the kid, letting him work through it. "He's their hero." He looked down at his book, flipping through pages until he found a picture of the Evil Queen defeating a giant monster. 

He looked back up at me, tentative and unsure, his fingers trembling against the page.

"Is my mom a villain?"

I took a deep breath and wrapped my arms around the kid. "No one is, kid. We're all just human. We make choices and we make mistakes. I do know one thing for sure." I held him as he started to shudder. "Your mom loves you with everything she is."

We didn't have conversations like that often. I think Regina knew we were having them, and that's why she would call me to find him. I didn't really mind. It did give me time to get to know the kid. There was also the added bonus of having the chance to see Regina when I dropped him off at home. 

Maybe one day, she'd invite me to dinner.

As I settled into the town, my first task was twofold. I had to find a place to stay more permanently, and I had to get my stuff. A call to Pidgin had my apartment sorted. I would be able to trust him to take care of my crap and to get the apartment cleaned to standard. We agreed to go ahead and sell the business. He'd be up with my shit after he got it taken care of, and he'd promised he'd deposit my take in the same account that he'd set up for me. He'd bring up my share of the paperwork to sign off on the dissolution of the partnership and business. I'd show him around my new home. 

I was looking at the classifieds in the diner when Mary Margaret showed up and flopped into the seat across from me. My initial assessment of her was right. She was a good hearted person, if morally ambiguous. The entire town knew she was seeing David Nolan now that he was awake. I'd told her it was none of my business, but getting involved with a married man was definitely Not Right.

I didn't care if they were Snow White and Prince Charming, marriage was damned well sacrosanct. 

My first tour out of School of Infantry had me humping patrol with a couple of fucknuts specializing in being Jody. It's pretty standard when you're in. You hear it constantly. Whoever you're with is back home with either Jody or Suzy Rottencrotch. Fucking Jody, always making time with my Marine's girlfriends and wives, waiting until we deployed then bam! Jody'd be balls deep. I saw more than a few broken marriages. Counseled more than my share of broken hearted enslited Marines who had been taken for everything by the girl or boy they'd been fighting for. 

Fucking breaks your heart to hear a Marine you've been shoulder to shoulder with sobbing over losing love. It happens every fucking week. Marines go off to war and leave their partners behind, and their partners stray. They fuck around, they take everything they can. The good ones don't. The good ones are up front and honest about it. 

With that last thought, I broke myself out of my funk and smiled at Mary Margaret. "Hey."

"Still looking for a place?" She smiled back at me. Whatever I thought of her moral compass, I did still like the woman. I only hoped that she and David were being up front with Kathryn over all of it.

I set the paper aside and turned my full attention to her. "Yeah, looks like rentals are few and far between."

"Well, I do have a spare room. Its not much, and you'd have to hang your own door, but I'd be happy to split the rent with you."

I rubbed my face and gave her a rueful grin. "Do me one favor and I'll say yes." 

"Of course, anything."

I glanced around quickly. "Never let me catch you with any of your dates."

She flushed deeply and coughed, nodding. "D-deal."

I moved my shit in that day, right after I got my key. It didn't take long, thankfully, and all too soon it was time for me to go out on night duty. Before I left, I promised to do two things: be quiet when I came in after my shift, and install doors as quickly as possible.

Everything was fine.

Until I did the perimeter check on the town.

Graham had said he would be spending a quiet night in. He'd been more forthcoming in the last week about his time off. Guess he'd stopped dating someone or something. He had made a joke about watching the Pats and downing a shot each time they choked on a play.

If he'd been doing that, his car should have been at his apartment.

Instead of in the middle of the woods near the town line.

I tried calling him. No answer. I tried radioing him. No answer. I checked his car. The radio was still on the front seat.

I drew my weapon from the holster and clicked my mind through possible backup options. My thumb was already pressing the speed dial before I had any solid ideas.

"Do you have any idea what time it is, Miss Swan?"

"Graham's car is parked near the town line on the east road and he's not in it, but his radio is. I can't raise him on the phone. I need searchers and backup. Can you handle that or should I call someone else?"

A short, sharp inhale let me know she'd understood exactly what I was saying. "I'll handle it. The first ones should be there in about ten minutes." I grunted, my eyes sweeping the nearby woods. Nothing stirred. Something had disturbed the quietness of the forest, recently. "And Emma?"

I was startled by the use of my name. She never called me that. "Yeah?"

"Be careful."

I smiled and rolled my shoulders. "I will. I'll call you if I find anything."

The hunt was on.

The forest loomed dark and foreboding. From our conversations, I knew that Graham was comfortable in the woods. He spoke of them as his second home, the dirt and rocks and roots forming his own personal temple. He wasn't stupid - at least, he hadn't come off as stupid in the few weeks that I'd known him. I cast my light around, looking for any fresh disturbances. Leaving his car meant he wasn't hiding, and therefore wouldn't have hidden his tracks.

A few broken twigs and disturbed leaves set me on the right path. The looming trees cast a pallor over the low shrubbery that dotted the woods, barely allowing slivers of moonlight through. An overturned rock bore a new fresh bootprint right next to it. I smiled grimly. 

Graham and I had been doing very well. Why would he have snuck into the middle of the woods without telling anyone?

Something was wrong.

I was starting to hear the first shouts of his name from the road when I found him.

He lay at the base of a tree growing from a slight incline. His cheek pressed solidly against a large flat rock, a trickle of sluggish blood creeping over the jagged edge of the shale. His neck was at a rough and disturbing angle. In his chest, a large hunting knife protruded obscenely.

I made the mistake of looking at his eyes.

Glassy and empty, they stared into me, bored through me every bit as much as -

2004\. My first tour. Patrol went bad. We got caught in a firefight. Iraqi man took a few to the chest, one to the head. Kid came screaming out of one of the doorways. His screams were unintelligible, raw emotion spewing at us in a language we barely knew. He was spitting and crying and yelling, then he grabbed the guy's AK and started drawing a bead on us. 

His finger never made it to the trigger.

Even in death, I could see the pain and hatred in his eyes. 

And now there was Graham.

Another dead body staring up at me, to visit me in the dead of night and ask why. Why him. Why then. 

Stomping feet and shouts were drawing closer. I could hear David Nolan nearest.

"Over here!" If the one who'd killed Graham had still been around, the incoming horde would have tipped them off to flee long before my shout. David came crashing through the trees and I waved my light. "Hold it. We need a perimeter. And more light." I looked down at the body laying a few feet away. "This is a crime scene."

We didn't find much. Graham's wallet was missing. I'd put a trace on them just in case the fucker was stupid enough to try and use them. 

They never did.


	7. Doing That Thing Which is Right When No One is Looking

Graham's death left a hole in the town. 

The diner was subdued. People still said hi and were friendly. It was pretty obvious that this was the first major death the town had ever seen. And to make it better, I was the one running the investigation - which was going nowhere. I made calls upstate, trying to find any information about any known drifters. No one in town really carried any kind of hatred for the man. The worst I ever dug up were minor inconveniences that left people mildly irritated, but quickly blew over. 

It was a shock to find out that an election and debate was to be held. Graham had held office "for a long time" and always ran unopposed. This time, there was to be me and Sidney Glass. His line ran that since I was obviously unfit to be a lead investigator, because I hadn't immediately solved the case, and was an outsider, I obviously didn't warrant the role. 

Bullshit.

Cases don't always get tied up with pretty fucking bows. 

I couldn't tell whether Regina's recommendation was helping or hurting me. Patrolling the town and finding out what was going on in people's lives had been doing a lot to help me. Regina's stumping had taken a different route. I wasn't sure what the concentration on how happy people were in town was really relevant to running for Sheriff, but I trusted her enough to let her advocate. She knew the people.

Sidney's approach was weirder. It didn't really make much sense to me. It was a lot of insinuation and vagueness. I saw him more than a few times with that slimy lawyer fucknut. A couple of times, I saw Gold watching me with a weird little smile on his face. That always left me unsettled as fuck.

It was a couple days after Graham's funeral when it happened. I had stopped by the Mayor's office late, humping the paperwork Regina had requested. Everyone else had gone home and we were in her office talking - her talking, me listening to her strategy - when the building was rocked by an explosion. 

Once, in the shit, my squad had been caught off guard by an explosion. It was meant to draw us into a firefight or just kill us in the smoke. Faulty wiring meant we were able to make a hole, get out, and fire from cover. Worst casualty we had that day was a lance's bootlace. We used it for securing part of the charge to make our door. With any luck, this would be significantly easier. We didn't have anybody shooting at us, for one thing. It was just a stateside municipal building that had an explosion of unknown origin and intensity. 

I'd be able to get us out as long as I could scout the terrain.

A second, lower rumble shook the building. The lights flickered for a moment and went out. A soft string of curses flowed through my head and I took stock of the room. The door was beginning to have wisps of smoke flowing beneath it. The second explosion could have been a gas heater, which meant we were in deep shit and needed an exit right fucking quick.

I strode to the window and glanced out. The drop would be too far for the two of us to make safely without a secure rig. I turned to Regina, who was striding toward the door. 

"Wait!" My barked out order stuttered her step and she glanced at me. I dashed across the room to lay a hand against the barely warming wood. "Let me go first. We don't know what's out there." 

She nodded once and stepped back, her eyes dark in the dim battery powered emergency lighting. I quickly checked for hot spots and nodded to the Mayor. "We're clear. Let's go." 

She stepped forward, just in front of the large bookcase that held the annals of Maine law. She loved to cite things at me from the books in that bookcase.

A third explosion rocked the building, larger than the first two. That must have been the gas main. I didn't want to think what it could mean if none of these primary explosions weren't caused by the ancient infrastructure of the building.

The large bookshelf toppled, falling forward in what felt like slow motion. I didn't have time to think. I vaulted from my position next to the door and tackled Regina out of the way of the bookshelf, a pained yelp erupting from her when we landed and rolled on the carpet. 

"Fuck."

"Eloquent as always."

I winced and checked her over in a quick head to toe visual. "You okay?"

"Ankle." She reached for it and hissed, working the three inch heel off of her foot. If it had been a different time, I would have probably paid more attention to just how far her shirt was gapped open. Not that I could really see much of anything. The last explosion had knocked out all of the electrical and all of the illumination in the room came from a single street lamp outside. The battery powered light I'd barely been able to see by before had fallen to the floor, the light bulbs splattered across the floor with the rest of the detritus.

"Can you walk?" She pressed her lips together in a thin line, grabbed my arm and tried to put weight on her badly twisted ankle. A soft cry emerged. "Okay. Plan B." I walked over to the door.

Or rather, I tried to.

A small hand wrapped around my arm, holding me fast. "You're leaving me?" I couldn't respond beyond just dipping my head and grasping her hand. I held her fingers gently in my own and removed her hand as delicately as I could. She fell slightly forward, her arms holding her up as she sat on the carpet, her disrupted office strewn about her. 

I walked up to the door and with one solid boot, kicked the fucking thing open. 

The fire was at the stairwell. It was licking at the banister, most likely weakening the underlying joists more than enough to make this extremely interesting.

I dashed back to her, ignoring the way her hair fell over her face as she looked up at me. I hooked one arm under her knees and the other supported her back. This would be a hell of a run to get out of the building, and I doubted she would be okay with being tossed over my shoulder.

In as smooth of a motion as I could, I lifted her. Which means she groaned in pain, her arms flinging around my neck and gripping me tightly. Her purse smacked against my back, distracting me from the feel of her lithe body in my arms. If the smoke didn't kill me, holding her would.

I made my way out of the office and to the stairwell. As fucked as it was, the rest of the hallway was worse, blocked off with debris and fallen furniture. I didn't see anything in a quick visual, but still checked each step for its ability to support our weight before stepping on it fully. Her breathing was shallow against my neck. My phone vibrated in my pocket. 

I made it to the landing without knocking her head or ankle on anything. The rest of the stairs were starting to burn. There were three steps to the main linoleum of the first floor. It was starting to melt, looking vaguely like the burned out oil wells in the sandbox. Weird. 

I turned my head slightly, my chin touching against her forehead. "Hold on." Her grip got impossibly tighter. 

I stepped back, as close to the wall as I could. I took a quick step forward and leaped, clearing the burning stairs and landing at the fire door. Her hip smacked into the release and we pushed through. The foyer of City Hall was mostly clear and I was able to easily walk us out the rest of the way with her pushing the front door open as well. 

Sirens sounded in the distance as I carefully set her down on the bench just outside the building. I'd have to move her farther in a minute, but I needed to catch my breath first. Humping someone like that wasn't something I was as used to anymore. I'd need to do some more pack runs.

"What the hell were you thinking?!"

"I was thinking, gee, the building's on fire, maybe we should get out of here as quickly as possible!"

"That was idiotic!"

I shook my head, glaring at the woman I'd just pulled from a burning building. "A thank you would suffice."

She glared at me, her leg held awkwardly in the air as a paramedic ran up and tried to shove an oxygen mask on her. She shoved him away and pointed at her ankle. "I would thank you if you didn't insist on behaving like an idiot. I trust next time you'll think your actions through further."

"You know what, Regina? Next time, I'll do the same damned thing. It's what I trained for. It's what I'm good at. And if I wasn't so good at it, we'd both be dead right now. So next time I save your life, just remember to say thank you." 

Fuck, I wanted to kiss her.

I walked away instead.

After that fire, I started getting a lot more measuring looks and smiles thrown my way by what felt like everyone I ran into. I wasn't sure what that was about. I hadn't really done anything. 

All too soon it was time for the debate for the election of Sheriff. Regina hadn't brought up my piss poor rescue of her from the fire, and I hadn't either. All else equal, I preferred to let it die. It was not my best moment, especially since it was my fault she got hurt, and I had yelled at her afterward. I'd gone and picked up Pidgin from Portland the morning of the debate. He stood at the back of the room, a silent sentinel. We'd barely made it back into town in time for the debate. I'd given him a crash course on the town: kid, his mom, the townspeople and their hinky memories. 

I don't remember much of the election debate. I know I said a lot of pretty fucking words to a big crowd. I know I vaguely fingered Gold as the setter of the fire - he'd left a fuckton of evidence behind, like I was some kind of idiot. Or like he had expected to get away with it without question. Or maybe he didn't expect to get away with it. Regardless, I talked up that despite the loss of the building, there had been no loss of life and rapid response by emergency services.

Pidgin had shifted and glared at me for not filling him in on that.

I remember Sidney's speech being a lot of stumping, trying to continue to blame me for Graham's murder investigation going nowhere. I'd wanted so badly to punch that slimy bastard right in the mouth for that. He talked about me abandoning my son. 

Then he crossed the line.

"-and Emma Swan would have you believe that she is some kind of hero, when in truth, I have here evidence that she recklessly endangered her squad, leading to the death of her own man by her abandonment, Corporal Jason Okamura!"

I'd been sitting in a chair on stage up to this point. When he spoke, I stood. My chair scraped across the boards and drew every eye in the place to me. It was a breach of protocol, but I didn't fucking care anymore.

No one gets to say I left a man behind.

Ever.

"You may attack me all day long. You can say anything you like about me. Put up a billboard announcing to the world that I had a teenage pregnancy, air every bit of dirty laundry you think I might have." I turned and looked at the crowd. Everyone was silent as they watched me. I pitched my voice at that right level, the same one that would carry across the parade deck. "For those of you who do not know, I joined the Marines at 18. I served my country honorably through three tours in Iraq, and every bit of my record reflects that." I met Pidgin's eyes from across the room and he nodded. "And if you do not believe that, you can ask the man that was just announced as dead. Corporal Jason Okamura, please step forward."

Pidgin stepped forward and stood at parade rest. The entire room erupted in titters and talking. Sidney paled, then glared at the lawyer who watched everything impassively.

Regina was looking at me and smiling.

I was incredibly surprised when I still won the election after that.


	8. Most Important Six Inches on the Battlefield is Between Your Ears

After losing that election, Sidney snapped. I'm not what it was that set him off, but he began ranting and raving about needing to get out of the glass. He went after Regina. 

Once.

He was placed in psychiatric care after that. Its not my fault he may or may not have made it there in one piece. Jealous fucker kept trying to break custody and get back to her, screaming about how he deserved to serve the Queen more than me.

I'm not sure how, though I have my suspicions, he got a hold of the one German paper that had reported Pidgin as dead. It had actually been someone from another squad in our battalion. Something about battlefield reporting always gets fucked in the transmission. Pidgin had stayed until the election was over, meeting people and, strangely enough, helping Regina stump for me. Whatever he told her must have been a solid pack of lies. She still greeted me with a smile after talking to him.

It was fucking funny seeing him in the diner with his "GRUNT" t-shirt, calmly talking to any number of citizens after the debate. Everybody wanted to meet him and find out more about me. Of course that fucker talked story. I finally pulled him out when he started talking about some of the shit Tig and I got into, thankfully well before he could really get into it and blow any cred I had in the town.

He did do one thing for me that fucked me over.

He pulled me aside the day after the debate and confirmed my suspicions about the town's memories. Either something was seriously fucked in Storybrooke, or Henry's fairy tale idea was the truth. 

He left after the election results were announced. He'd been away from his girl for a week and I could see the strain on him. Young love. 

I waited barely twenty four hours after he was committed before going to see Sidney. His ravings were odd. He insisted on needing to serve the Queen. He insisted he was loyal. He insisted I was an interloper, unworthy of his Queen, who would have to prove myself worthy of breathing the same air as her.

Classic delusional stuff. 

Still left me feeling weird.

The next few months after the election saw a whirlwind of activity. The single biggest piece of gossip in the town, aside from me for some reason, was Mary Margaret.

Or to be more specific, Mary Margaret's not so secret affair with David Nolan. It seemed everyone in town knew about it. It got harder and harder to justify keeping a blind eye to it. It just rubbed me the wrong way, and I told her so more than once. Told her about some of the experiences I'd had cleaning up after Suzy Rottencrotch and told her to make it right. 

Regina and I kept our relationship as professional as possible for two people kind of sharing a kid. She never invited me to dinner, though she kept watching me. Every time we were together she would sweep her eyes over me from head to toe with that look I couldn't place. It always left my skin feeling itchy, especially since the more time I spent around her, the more I liked her. She was smart and resilient, able to think on her feet and wanted nothing really to do with me. I felt like the weekend dad more often than not, and I could see what some of my old squad mates meant by how much it sucked. 

Then Kathryn Nolan went missing.

It hadn't been exactly unknown how difficult the situation was on Kathryn. After all, the woman had just gotten her husband back from a coma and he started sleeping with someone else? A shitty situation regardless of whatever justification Henry came up with to explain it away. Mary Margaret had been starting to feel it - the town was cluing her in that yes, everyone knew. 

And not everyone appreciated Henry's rose colored view of his "grandparents" finding one another.

This investigation went considerably different than the one into Graham's murder. It didn't matter that Mary Margaret had dumped David Nolan the day that Kathryn went missing. She was the only viable suspect. I had to bring her in, if only for her safety. The town was rumbling, and if it wasn't settled, something fucked would happen.

Kathryn's car had been found near the same spot as Graham's. I did not like the implications of that. I decided to investigate with daylight to help and went back. I ran a grid search and found Kathryn's phone.

The last two texts were the most notable. One from Mary Margaret apologizing and confirming the breakup. One from an unknown number, making the meet in the forest. It specifically said to meet where Graham had died. What the fuck was it with that spot that had people wandering into my town?

I checked through more and found a series of emails, telling Kathryn in detail about what Mary Margaret and David were up to behind Kathryn's back. When I checked the ground, I found a keychain ripped from a keyring. The small brass ring that would have held it to the keyring was twisted open, the metal stressed. There was a weird design on it, like a sudoku puzzle that had already been solved. Except some of the numbers were bigger. 

When I checked it later, I found out it was called an anti-magic square and had something to do with advanced math. I couldn't imagine Mary Margaret having anything like that. When I questioned her about it, she'd never heard of anything like it - couldn't tell me word one about the damned thing. Wasn't lying. That left me with a dead end lead and very little I could do in order to find the missing woman. 

I was filling Regina in on the situation when Gold limped into my office. Smarmy motherfucker smiled at us and it made my skin crawl. 

"Good morning, ladies. Any luck finding the erstwhile Mrs. Nolan?"

I shoved aside my feelings toward the man and gave him a small smile. Though I'd not explicitly named him as the arsonist, I knew the slimy bastard was the one who had put our lives in danger. I didn't trust him as far as I could throw him. "We're investigating leads."

Gold dipped his head and met Regina's glare directly. I wanted to reach out and rest a hand on her arm or her back to let her know I would gladly shove the guy out the door. "Strange how she's gone missing at such a crucial time." He laughed and it tittered into an unnerving giggle. Regina stiffened next to me, but I didn't have time to think about it further. "Sheriff, I can help you find the missing Mrs. Nolan."

I glanced over at Regina. "As a favor?"

He smirked. "To save Regina."

"What." Her low tones sent a shiver through my system, hot on the heels of the cold shock of Gold's words.

"Regina is not a suspect." 

"She will be if we don't find what we need. Seems there are a few people around who remember seeing Regina as the last one to see Kathryn Nolan." And of course, she wasn't exactly fond of Mary Margaret. Fuck. A goddamned frame job. I glanced at Regina as I thought through the evidence and the statements I'd gathered. I trusted that she hadn't done it, but I had no proof. What I did have could easily be twisted to explain a clumsy frame of Mary Margaret. He reached into the bag he had brought with him and laid a box on my desk. "You'll need this." He gestured to the evidence bag on my desk, containing the anti-magic square. "After all, I imagine you'll find certain evidence? Perhaps...fingerprints."

Motherfucker knew there was a print on the keychain that had turned up dick.

He paused for a grand moment under my glare before he flipped the lid open, showing a finely crafted sword. It gleamed in the fluorescent light, and my fingers twitched to wrap around it and use it against the threat he presented.

Who the fuck brought a sword to a police station?

All I actually ground out was a single word. "Where?"

He dipped his head toward Regina, gave that unnerving giggle again, and limped his way out of the shop. My attention was fully on the woman that leaned heavily against my desk. Her normally high color had drained and her hand gripped the edge of my desk so hard I could have sworn I heard the desk creak. I reached out to her.

She turned to me, an unpleasant decision made from the look on her face. "Come with me." She glanced at the sword laying in the box, a flicker of a sneer crossing her features. "Bring...that."

We walked along the street, Regina's pace a brutal one for someone in heels that high. She spoke without breaking her stride. "Gold has Kathryn. He came to me earlier insisting I return something that belongs to him, and he'd return my friend." The word sounded snarled, like the memory of how Gold had said it had tainted it? I dunno. It was weird. 

"So it's a ransom."

Regina's step stuttered before continuing. "...Yes. He laid out the evidence against me. It could be damning if-"

"I know he's full of shit. You didn't kidnap Kathryn." A soft breath of a laugh emerged from her. 

She didn't say anything more, just led me to the library and finally turned to face me, her hand moving as though to lay against my arm, before being drawn back to press against her stomach. "There is...something down there. You need to bring back what's inside. It...glows in the dark. Should be about the size of a football." She dipped her head toward the sword. "You'll need...that...to retrieve it." Her eyes searched my face, a deep sorrow lingering behind her concern. Her hand grasped my forearm, stress making her touch bruisingly tight. "I'm sorry for what you will find. For what it means. After this, I'll have to...tell you." She looked away and swallowed hard before turning a teary gaze back to me. "Try...try not to kill her."

I tilted my head and gave her a small smile. I would have a perfect bruise exactly the size of her fingers and hand if she didn't let go soon. "As long as its not an army of ogres, I think I can handle it."

Regina gave a short bark of a laugh and stepped away from me, her touch gentling before leaving me entirely. I took a deep breath and buckled the sword on with its attached belt. It hung well from my hips. I must have looked ridiculous in my jeans and leather jacket, sword belt strapped to my hips, the sword hanging opposite from my gun. Regina just stared at me with that same inscrutable gaze she always gave me before turning to the wall. A large mirrored tree mural covered the far wall. She pressed on part of it and it swung open to reveal an elevator. I glanced down the shaft and saw only blackness. I pulled out my flashlight and stepped in, meeting Regina's eyes directly.

"Go ahead." Regina pressed the button and I began to descend into the earth. I felt her watching me until I was out of sight. It was a shaft exactly like the mines I had pulled Henry out of. To the left and right, the tunnel continued. Straight ahead was a rough cavern. I forged forward.

The air was damp and raw, hanging heavily with a foul stench. It smelled like something had been living down beneath the town for decades in its own filth, a kind of musty, earthy decay mixed with an open shit trench. I cast my flashlight around and saw only blackened rocks. The parts of the rocks nearest the ground weren't as black. I rubbed at the rocks experimentally and the blackness came off on my hand. 

It was soot.

Each and every single one of the rocks was covered in fine soot. 

I stepped further into the underground cave, my eyes beginning to adjust to the drastic change in light. A deep burnished glow was emerging from the far side of what must be a massive underground cavern, cut deeply into the ground by centuries of erosion. The slight sound of trickling water gave me the source of the damp and erosion. I stepped forward carefully, checking any rocks for non-burned areas. Not a single one bore a natural color.

A long, low growling rumble emerged from the depths of the cavern. I side stepped around a stalagmite without looking. My thigh impacted against something that hadn't been there when I'd checked a minute previous. I swung my flashlight over.

It was Snow White's glass coffin, that I had seen destroyed in the mines. The same broken pane of glass was missing from the lid, two inches in front of my left foot. A solid representation of absolute insanity and impossibility was directly in front of me.

Fuck.

I had more than a sneaking suspicion what, exactly, Regina would have to tell me when I got back topside.

A roar erupted and a plume of flame shot out, like the burning oil rigs in the desert. Then a piece of blackness separated from the rest and loomed over me. No roughnecks were needed beneath the town.

Spurred by instinct and half remembered stories, I drew the sword from my waist and tested it's weight. Decent heft and balance. I kept my eyes on the emerging figure and kept a tight rein on my reactions. I needed to respond to the threat, not break down. Breakdowns could wait for later. After the threat had been neutralized. Identify, analyze, strike. 

Above me, breathing fire and smoke, stood a giant fuck off dragon. Near the head and near the chest, glowing red burned through the scales as it reared back and released another fiery offensive.

It swirled around the rock I had taken cover behind, bouncing harmlessly against the old coffin. I tucked the flashlight away and sprinted to another spot of cover. The dragon was twisting and thrashing in the cavern, disoriented. If I could...

I sprinted back the way I'd come, cutting closer to the dragon and slashing in a general way at its snout. It reared back and slammed its head full force into a low outcropping. The rock rained down on me in dusty shards as the dragon collapsed in front of me, its eyes closing as it succumbed to the concussion it had given itself. I took in the full bulk of the creature. It was fucking massive. I could see why the old stories listed them as some of the most dangerous creatures in existence. I could easily see it flying through the air and laying waste to the countryside, burninating all the villagers in their thatched roof cottages.

A hysterical laugh threatened to erupt from me. I shoved it down with vicious control. There would be an explanation. Regina would have an explanation.

The fiery glow at the base of its neck dissipated as it had dropped into unconsciousness, but the glow at the beginning of the throat remained. I stepped forward and poked at the spot. It gave slightly, but felt hard and lumpy beneath, just about the size of a regulation football. As soon as I touched it, it glowed brighter. I lifted the sword and cut just around and beneath the lump, then reached in. It lay just beneath the scales and was easy to prize loose. A large egg came out into my hand, jeweled and golden, glowing with an internal light. The incision was shallow and barely dripped with ichor. 

I took another look at the dragon and turned to leave. As soon as I turned away, a bright glow erupted from the dragon's body, engulfing the entirety of its form. It shrank, reducing to the size of an elephant within a breath. Within a scant few seconds after, it had shrunk to the size of a regular human being. I tugged my flashlight out again and cast it over the figure before me to find a blonde with messy hair that I'd never seen before. Her headdress was a lot like the one I'd seen in the book on the Queen's friend Maleficent. 

I stared for a moment.

A slow trickle of blood dripped across her throat, just below her jawline. The egg sat heavily in my hand.

I sighed, secured my weapon, and lifted her over my shoulder. For the voluminous size of the tattered dress she wore, she was deceptively light. It was my fault she was all fucked up, I could at least get her medical. I humped her over to the elevator and set her down against the wall. I called up for my ride and the elevator began its slow trek topside. Twenty feet below the aperture into the library, it ground to a halt with a shuddering creak. The walls of the shaft were too close - I couldn't climb down. My only way out would have to be up.

"Regina? What's going on?"

"Miss Swan. It appears the Evil Queen has run off on you." My eyes narrowed at him. Everything the man said to me set off alarm bells like mad - especially the fact that his calling of Regina by that title set off zero alarm bells. "Ah, I see you retrieved the -" He glanced at the side of the elevator and his eyes bugged out. "You have to toss that up. Now. And get out of there."

That was the first thing he'd said that was fully truthful. "Fine. I'll be right up." I tossed the egg up to him. His shadow disappeared from the doorway and I knew in my gut he was abandoning me and my rescued dragon damsel. I grunted as I lifted myself out of the shaft. Within the library, Regina was tied to a chair, her mouth covered in duct tape. A burning rage erupted in me at seeing that. I didn't really have time to analyze it. I reached her in a few short strides and tugged her hands free from the chair, leaving her to pull the tape off her lips herself. That shit hurt when it was torn off.

"You just gave it to him?! I cannot believe you!"

"Yell at me later, I brought someone back with me."

Her eyes widened at me and she rushed to the shaft, leaning against the side of the doorway. "Mal..." The name was softly breathed out. I punched the button for the elevator and it continued its rise. "You didn't kill her."

"Didn't kill the giant dragon trying to burn me alive that was thrashing around underneath Storybrooke? Nah." I rubbed my head with my free hand, then grabbed her elbow as the ludicrousness of what we were talking about hit me. "We need to talk. But first, I need to kill Gold."

She looked at me, haunted and defeated. "We need to figure out what he's doing." The elevator had reached us and she reached for her friend. I carried the unconscious woman out of the elevator and nodded for Regina to lead us. "We have to get her to the hospital."

"You drive." I placed the woman in the backseat and slid in shotgun, the sword making it slightly awkward. I waited until she was at speed before asking the one question that burned in me. "It's all true, isn't it. What Henry's said."

Her hands tightened on the wheel, her knuckles white. "Yes."

"Okay." I looked into the backseat, checking on our passed out passenger. "After the hospital, you talk." 

We made it to the hospital quickly. My easy acceptance of her admission had confused Regina, but I wasn't about to explain it when there were things to do. Once we pulled in, record time, Regina spun a great story about having just found the woman in the woods. We got out of there easily - probably because I'd remembered to remove the sword and tuck it mostly out of sight before arriving at the hospital. Things went a bit easier when the Sheriff and the Mayor brought in an unconscious stranger who wasn't really a stranger but no one really knew it.

Looking back on it now, I recognize how fucked up it was to just go along with it. Honestly, if I'd had options outside of that, hints that what I was in wasn't the truth, I would probably have had more difficulty with it. As it was, by the time I found Mal underground, I'd been in town almost six months. The craziness of the town was normal to me, and it was normal to find a giant fuck off dragon that transformed into a woman when a golden egg was pulled from inside her throat. It was what happened next that just solidified it all, especially after Regina admitted it. I could probably have figured out a way to explain it all away, even though I had been more than halfway to believing before Gold had come into it. You know, an explanation like gas fumes, or bad mushrooms.

Regina and I left the hospital and I awkwardly followed her to her car. I needed to find Gold and figure out what the fuck he was up to, but we also needed to pick Henry up and pretend nothing had happened. His therapy session was almost done for the day. They'd been going considerably better for the last few months, concentrating less on fairy tales and more on strengthening his ties to his mom. Side effect of it was also dealing with his emotions about me. I'd been to a session or two with him, it wasn't awful. The kid had started to grow on me over the months I'd been in town.

I stood behind her at her car as she leaned against it. She didn't speak and just handed the keys to me with a shaking hand. I opened the passenger door and helped her in the car. She immediately leaned her head against the headrest and closed her eyes. I got in and drove us to Archie's office in silence. Henry came running down, a flicker of confusion on his face to see me driving his mom's car before it cleared and he jumped into the car.

"Hi moms! Everything okay?"

I glanced over at Regina briefly before concentrating on driving. It was Regina's tale to tell, if she wanted to fill him in. "Just a long day, sweetie. How would you feel about Miss Swan joining us for dinner?"

My hands tightened on the steering wheel, much as Regina's had earlier.

"That would be awesome!"

I was finally fucking invited to dinner, and all it had taken was facing down a giant fuck off dragon with a sword.


	9. Engage Your Brain Before You Engage Your Weapon

Dinner was, in a word, amazing. I've always loved homemade lasagna, and Regina's was one of the best. I dug into it with gusto, the melted cheese a perfection with the perfectly cooked noodles. I took a second helping - defeating a dragon was hungry work. If that was really what I'd done and I hadn't hallucinated the entire thing. It could have been a prehistoric dinosaur, trapped under Storybrooke for sixty five million years. Before I'd cut a golden egg from it's throat and it had transformed into a blonde woman. Before Regina admitted that everything Henry thought was true.

 

Fuck.

 

Henry and I had a chance to hang out a bit while Regina was making dinner. She was more subdued than usual. Henry kept shooting her sidelong worried glances, trying to gauge if he'd done anything wrong. He caught my eye and I shook my head at him, trying to give him the hint to leave it alone for tonight.

 

After dinner, while Regina was taking care of the dishes and had dismissed us both, Henry turned to me. "Hey, Emma, can you hand me my backpack? I've got some homework to do now." I reached over and grabbed his backpack, handing it to him. He opened it and slid the book out, dropping it in my lap so he could dig for more papers.

 

I reached down and grabbed the book, meaning to place it on the coffee table in front of me.

 

If you've never lived through a flashback, it isn't exactly the most pleasant of experiences.

 

I was no longer in Regina's living room. I was in a large castle, cold flagstones covered in tapestries, in a voluminous bed. A short man handed me to Mary Margaret. To my mother. To Snow White.

 

My father leaned over and kissed my forehead. He kissed my mother. They welcomed me into the world, smiling and holding me as a precious bundle in their arms. Alarms were being raised in shouted voices and clanging armor. The Dark Curse was coming.

 

Regina was coming.

 

My father took me in his arms and left my mother sobbing in the bed. There was no time. He had to give me my best chance. Guards were there. Swords clashed in the air, and the copper tang of blood filled my nose. My father was bleeding heavily, the attackers on the ground before us. He set me down gently, his roughened hands smoothing my blanket and hair away from my face.

 

"Find us."

 

My first order came from my father.

 

I blinked and I was back in Regina's living room. My emotions were swirling inside me. Yes, I'd just defeated a dragon. Yes, I believed. Yes, my parents had wanted me.

 

A clatter of a pyrex pan being put away came from the kitchen.

 

Yes, Regina really was the Queen in Henry's book.

 

I looked down at the book in my hands. While I'd been off in fairy tale land, Henry had escaped upstairs. Probably for the best. I was about to have a very uncomfortable conversation with his mother.

 

The self admitted Queen.

 

I exhaled shakily.

 

This was not at all what I had expected from an invitation to dinner.

 

I set the book down carefully. I couldn't let her know what I knew. There were too many unknowns. She was the Queen. She was the Mayor. She'd run this town with her mortal enemies captured in time with her for 28 years and done nothing further against them than minor irritations. I'd seen worse done in the sandbox against those I'd called friends.

 

One day in the shit, we were at a Forward Operational Base set up at a captured air base, known as Camp Chesty. Out of all the FOBs, we did the stupidest shit at Camp Chesty. One morning, the dirt haze was just starting to burn off when we decided to fuck with one of the lances. Fucker was a goddamned blue falcon. Opened up his fucking piehole and squealed, earned the whole damned platoon a fucking field day.

 

You ever fuck up so bad you had to sweep dirt? That's what the fucker forced us into by opening his goddamned yapper.

 

So we waited for him to get in the porta shitter for one of his four times daily jackoff sessions.

 

Then we shoved a fuckton of bottle rockets in the vents and set them off.

 

That blue falcon flew outta the porta shitter with his trousers still around his ankles, and bit it hard with a mouthful of the deck. He looked up at us and just shook his head. He knew he'd fucked up and deserved it. You don't fuck over your mates like that.

 

If he'd actually done something really fucked, we'd have done something serious. He wasn't a bad guy. Just stupid sometimes.

 

I rubbed my face, wiping away the memory. Was Regina actually evil? All the stories I'd heard, all that stories I knew, were from a different perspective. There had to be more to it. I'd known some fucked up people that did some fucked up things. Regina never struck me like that.

 

I had to find out more.

 

The real story had to be out there.

 

I had recon to do.

 

"Need some help there, Your Majesty?" The fork slipped from Regina's hand and clattered back into the water. She rested her hands against the counter, her back to me, and stared into the darkness of the Maine night.

 

"He's right." Her voice was low and rough, restrained emotion keeping her shoulders a tense line. "About the curse. About me. About all of it."

 

I tilted my head and stepped into the kitchen, my shoulder brushing against one of Henry's tests, held to the fridge by a magnet that cheerily announced "Great Job!" in tacky colors. "Kind of figured that out when I came face to face with a dragon." I stepped to the edge of the island, my hip resting against the tile. "What'd they do?"

 

Her head snapped around to me, her eyes dark chasms of blackness as she sneered at me. "Your mother? And her charming little prince?" She laughed. She probably meant it to be derisive. It just sounded broken. "They stole my happiness." I glanced over at the fridge with a casual deliberateness. Henry's latest school picture was tacked up to the door, a shining, crooked smile splitting his face. Regina's shoulders slumped.

 

"There's not much in there from before."

 

"Before what?"

 

I shrugged. "All of sudden, you appear from nowhere, a dark bogeyman crafted just to go after Snow White."

 

Regina turned to fully face me, her arms wrapped around her stomach. "There's not much to tell. I was born with just enough noble blood to justify a royal wedding."

 

I raised an eyebrow, my body language deliberately relaxed. "If I know my stories, that wasn't by choice."

 

A hoarse laugh emerged. "My mother's. I was to be a Queen."

 

"Looks like you got your goal."

 

"Until she ruined it."

 

I didn't really need to ask, but it served to keep the conversation going. "My mother, you mean."

 

"Snow White, Leopold's darling daughter." The snarl of his name was enough to give me more of the backstory. Only the abused ones who retained their anger, who'd gotten away, had that kind of derision.

 

With that single hated recitation, the pieces began to fit. "Doesn't sound like he was much of a benevolent king."

 

Regina waved a hand, the other pressed firmly against her stomach. "He died. I didn't."

 

I'd have to look into that.

 

"What were you before you married?"

 

She looked at the ground, a soft wistful smile on her lips. "Happy." A flinch erased the smile. "Mostly."

 

Definitely a story there.

 

"You haven't been correcting him recently." Her gaze sharpened as she snapped it up to meet mine. "Henry. When he hints at his book." She shook her head, her tongue darting out to moisten her lips in preparation for speaking. "You took Hopper's advice."

 

Her hand slowly clenched and unclenched at her side. "It was pointed out to me that focusing on the positives would do more to endear him to me than attempting to eliminate the negatives."

 

I snorted a laugh. "What I actually said was to stop pissing in the pot, he already likes the soup."

 

Her lips quirked. "Always crude, Miss Swan."

 

I stepped forward. Her chin tilted up, allowing her to meet my eyes directly. My voice was quiet and steady. "I've got a lot more questions for you. Before I ask them, I have some thinking to do. I don't know how long it'll take to absorb. I do know that what's in that book is only part of it. I want the rest of the story."

 

"Jefferson." She cleared her throat and dropped her gaze to the middle of my chest. "He lives just outside of town. He was...useful to me." She met my eyes directly once again, her will imposed over her emotions once again. "He remembers. Just tell him...his daughter will be restored to him when the curse is broken."

 

I dipped my head in acknowledgment of the information. I knew of a few more leads that could fill me in.

 

"Whatever Gold is planning, he won't be waiting long. Whatever you decide, do it quickly." She turned her head away. "And don't hesitate, once you have made that decision."

 

Emotions filled me as I really absorbed the message. There was a metric fuckton of shit to deal with from these revelations.

 

I didn't have much time.

 

I reached out with one hand and cupped Regina's cheek until she looked at me directly. "I believe you. And I will come back." I dropped my hand and stepped away with a slight smile. "Tell Henry I said goodnight."

 

As I left the house, I could feel Regina watching me.

 

\---

 

Finding Jefferson was easy. Ran a check from the station and he popped right up. According to records, he was single, no children. According to Regina, his daughter was around somewhere. Mary Margaret remained in jail - that fucking fingerprint led nowhere, and without a viable suspect, I had to hold her the full 48. I looked at her with my new knowledge and smiled. She'd finally fallen into an exhausted and fitful sleep on the narrow slat in the cell. I couldn't do much to make her comfortable beyond the blanket I'd given her earlier. If I couldn't

 

It wouldn't do any good to visit Jefferson that night. I'd leave it until the morning before busting in on him. I'd also be paying a visit to a couple of others. First and foremost, though, one visit could be justified as part of a larger investigation.

 

With a last glance at my mother, I left the station and headed to the hospital.

 

Getting in to see Sidney was relatively simple. Thankfully my badge worked as an all access pass despite visiting hours being over. I just stressed that Sidney had time sensitive information related to an ongoing investigation, and the docs assumed the rest. He was brought to a small, plain room, comfortable chairs set across from a couch. Definitely the nicest interrogation room I'd ever seen.

 

"What do you want, Savior?" His snarl twisted his face into a pained mask of hatred.

 

"Have a seat. Want some water?" I gestured to the bottles that stood on one of the side tables. He eyed me suspiciously before seating himself on the couch.

 

"No."

 

I sat in one of the chairs and watched him quietly for a long moment. He began to fidget, his glare flickering into confusion. "I saw Maleficent today."

 

Sidney laughed. "How is the bitch?"

 

I shrugged. "Upstairs. She knocked herself out trying to light me on fire."

 

Sidney grimaced. "Too bad she missed."

 

"Because I'm not worthy of protecting your Queen?"

 

"Precisely."

 

"She trusts me."

 

He waved his hand dismissively, exasperation coloring his voice. "She doesn't know what's best for her. If she did, she would have had you killed when you got here."

 

"Who would have killed me, Sidney?"

 

"Her guard. They're still here, waiting for her." He grimaced. "When they remember."

 

"After all this time, they'll still leap to her defense?"

 

Sidney sneered at me. "You wouldn't understand loyalty, whelp."

 

"Mmm." I remained deliberately relaxed. "Tell me about loyalty, then."

 

"Loyalty is knowing that she'll never ask for what she wants, so I had to give it to her." He leaned forward, his voice rising as he spoke. "Loyalty is recognizing the pain she is in is being caused by those around her and doing something about it."

 

"You did something about it."

 

"He hated her! She wasn't his wife, she was a replacement brought in just to raise Snow White!" He was in the grip of powerful emotion, his hands gripping the couch cushion. "I had to get rid of him."

 

"Of Snow White's father." I raised my hands before me, tapping my fingertips together. "Many would not have such courage."

 

He straightened, his anger dissolving as he began looking at me in a new light. "I am not many. I am her trusted servant." He watched me, stilling for a long moment before leaning forward again. "You believe."

 

"I've been told the truth."

 

He shook his head. "What do you know of the truth?"

 

"I know it takes a powerful person to inspire such loyalty."

 

"Mine isn't the loyalty you need watch for." He leaned against the couch. "Your parents will expect much of you."

 

"Everyone expects much of me."

 

"They'll want you to kill her."

 

"Why would they want that?"

 

"It doesn't matter. Snow broke the treaty. She had no choice. She had no choice." Sidney was rocking back and forth in his seat, hugging himself around the waist. "She had no choice, they declared the war, it wasn't up to her, she had to stop it."

 

I stood. Sidney ignored me.

 

I had a lot to think about.

 

\---

 

Visiting Sidney was a terrible idea. He had hinted at a lot of hidden machinations that I knew nothing about. Despite his break from reality, he was reasonably lucid.

 

I didn't learn much more from visiting Jefferson. He hinted at vague things I couldn't prove. He did confirm that Regina hadn't been the one to start the war between her and Snow White. I wasn't entirely certain how much I could believe of what he told me. After all, trusting a single source for information without corroboration had gotten my squad into shit before. I wasn't about to do it with the entire town on the line.

 

After talking to each of them, I walked around the town. In the city park, a guy was running a circuit, stopping every once in a while for calisthenics. Decent performance. I hadn't met him yet, but if what I was learning was true, he would probably end up being one of the guards for either Regina or for Snow.

 

It was fucked up.

 

My phone rang, and the world continue to implode.

 

Kathryn had been found wandering the woods by a couple out for a hike. They'd taken her to the hospital.

 

When I got there, Kathryn's story was just as nonsensical as every thing else I'd learned in the previous 24 hours. She spoke of swinging lights and muffled voices, vague references to destroying what the town represented. She'd never seen her attackers, and couldn't identify their voices. Tox screen showed high levels of barbituates, which was how they'd kept her subdued. I'd have to run a search of the woods, see if I could figure out where she'd been kept.

 

The sun was starting to dip below the horizon. I wouldn't get much out of a search just yet. All of my questioning for the day had gotten me exactly nowhere. It was all fucked up, and had been fucked up since Graham's death.

 

I needed to see Regina.


	10. The Bended Knee is Not a Tradition of Our Corps

I hadn't been invited this time. I didn't think it would be an issue - Regina had said to act quickly once I'd made a decision. I had spent six months in the town. I'd gotten to know the woman, and tried to reconcile what I knew with what I knew of the world.

 

There was a fight coming. Whether or not we came out of it would depend on having the right allies.

 

Regina and I had been working together decently well. It wasn't unreasonable to expect that at some point soon, I could have worked up the courage to ask her on a date. But this? I was the spawn of her sworn fucking enemy. Anything I did would be seen as conniving to get into her good graces in order to betray her. I couldn't have that. That was...no. Just no. There had to be another way.

 

I emerged from the Bug and grabbed my sword - my father's sword - from the backseat. I strode up the walkway with it tucked under my arm. Thankfully, it was dark enough now that the sun had set so that I wouldn't have much trouble. Releasing Mary Margaret from the jail had taken up enough time to let the night rise.

 

I knocked and waited. After a moment's thought, I quickly tucked the sword away under a bush next to the door. I was brushing the dirt off of my hands when Henry swung it open.

 

"Hey, kid. Can I talk to your mom?" I reached out for him and pulled him into a quick hug. It had taken a while, but I really appreciated the little shit's hugs.

 

"She's in the kitchen making dinner! Are you gonna stay?"

 

I smiled down at him and stepped into the house. "That'll depend on what she says. Gimme a few, wouldja?"

 

He nodded and dashed off. I took a deep breath and walked to the kitchen. I leaned against the doorframe, a half smile on my face.

 

"Good evening, Miss Swan." She dried her hands on a towel and leveled a carefully controlled gaze on me. "I take it by your presence here, you have made a decision."

 

I shrugged. "Nope. Just here to get to know you."

 

Her eyes narrowed at me. She pointed at the bell peppers on the island, freshly washed and waiting on a cutting board. "Slice those into strips."

 

"Yes, ma'am." I set to work, a small smile on my lips. "I talked to Sidney and Jefferson." Regina's knife sliced steadily through chicken breasts as she listened. "There was mention that you didn't start it." I scraped out seeds as I spoke casually. "Seems Sidney's put out 'cause you didn't finish it, either."

 

The knife was set down carefully on the island and she looked at me. "He has always been short sighted. Rather ironic for a magic mirror."

 

I shrugged. "I'm sure you had your reasons for wanting her alive." I slid the bell peppers aside. "What next?"

 

She looked at me, startled.

 

"I've finished the first pepper." She looked down at my hands and laughed softly.

 

"Put it in the bowl with the onion." I nodded and slid the peppers in. "I don't know that I ever truly wanted her dead. I just wanted to be allowed to live happily. Peacefully." She frowned and shook her head. "She's your mother."

 

I tilted my head and glanced over at her. "Doesn't mean she can't make bad decisions."

 

A soft smile quirked Regina's mouth. "I suppose."

 

In short order, Regina had a cast iron pan heated and chicken fajitas were sizzling away. At her direction, I set the table with the fixings as the smell began to permeate.

 

Over dinner, I thought over what I'd learned during my time in Storybrooke. How different the woman presented in the book, that Regina had been, was to the woman who sat with me now, smiling tenderly at her son who told her about his day. Hopper's work over the previous months had done much to open him back up to his mother, as had her efforts to be more open with him.

 

I watched them over my fajitas, enjoying the quiet domesticity. Mid chew, Regina shifted her gaze away from Henry and met mine. What I saw in her floored me.

 

She was happy.

 

I mulled over the implications as we finished dinner. I had made my decision. In reality, I'd made my decision a while ago on pure instinct, and it had taken a while for my brain to catch up. After we had cleared the table and were dismissed, I sent my boy off to take care of his homework. I quietly opened the front door and retrieved the sword.

 

I removed it from the scabbard and tucked it under my arm. I walked into the kitchen, and dropped the scabbard on the island.

 

Regina turned, drying her hands on a towel. Her eyes widened, then hardened at the sight of my father's sword.

 

I dropped to one knee. Holding out the hilt toward her, I couldn't afford to think about what I was clumsily doing. I could barely look at her in the eye, second hand shame for the actions of my parents and awe at what the woman before had been able to repeatedly wrest from the jaws of failure. It didn't make any sense, but it was the only the thing that made sense.

 

"It's borrowed, but it's a sword. It's the sword of your enemy." Her eyes narrowed slightly at me, her lips twitching around the edges. "If you will have it, I swear to serve you and yours until I no longer draw breath." Her eyes widened and her mouth dropped slightly, shock plainly written on her features. I continued. "On my honor, no one and nothing will ever harm you if I can do anything about it."

 

I waited, my expression serious as I looked up at her. She stared at me for a long moment. Above us, Henry shifted his chair.

 

Her voice was thick when she spoke. I couldn't tell if she was restraining tears or the desire to yell at me. "Do you have any idea what you're doing?"

 

I inhaled and released it measuredly. The steel of the sword bit into my hands as I tightened them around the blade. I'd committed to this, and I was going to see it through. "I'm making an oath to the ruler of the Enchanted Forest."

 

She looked at me with that same inscrutable look I could never fucking read. "Stand, you idiot." She turned away from me, her hand pressing against her stomach. "Your parents are going to kill you."

 

"First they have to remember me." I stood and laid the sword down on the counter next to the scabbard.

 

She turned her head slightly, allowing me to see the regal profile that had captured me. "When did you decide?"

 

"A while ago. It just makes sense. Even if it didn't, Henry loves you. Your his mother. He needs you." I played with the pommel of the sword, feeling the broad flatness of it against my palm. "When my parents ask, that'll be what I tell them." I traced the outline of the pommel with my finger. "I don't know that they'd understand that I can't stand by and see someone tried for whatever crimes they committed in another life." I frowned. "Besides, between the two of you, I think Gold's got a lot more to answer for than you do."

 

"Actually, he prefers Rumplestiltskin."

 

I laughed softly. "Of course he does." I leaned back against the counter, my hands balancing me. "Its like there are a lot of little things that just start to add up, you know? After a while, the circumstantial evidence just...its overwhelming." I gestured vaguely upstairs. "He was right about the curse being in place. But he wasn't right about me. I'm not here to destroy you."

 

Regina let out a choked laugh. "Your parents will try."

 

I stepped forward and rested one hand at the small of her back. She looked up at me. I smiled. "No, they won't. I won't let them." Her hand wrapped around my forearm and held tightly. She searched my face for something. I stood and let her. "I've read the book. I've talked to people. I know what they say you did. But you know what?" I leaned forward, my forehead almost touching hers. "That book isn't from your perspective. Its from hers. You know what they say about history?" My quiet tone was soothing her, allowing her to gather her control. She shook her head minutely at my question. "It's always written by the winners. That's why we're taught that certain generals and armies were great and mighty when they were actually only slightly above average. The victors have to make themselves seem bigger and badder by making their enemy bigger and badder." Her hand loosened slightly at my words and she watched me silently. "I'm damned sure you've done things you're not proud of. Things that if you did them now, would be illegal in this world. But you weren't in this world. You were in a world the likes of which I've only read of in books. I can't even begin to imagine what that would have been like for you."

 

She released me and stepped back, wrapping her arms around her stomach. "Problematic."

 

I shrugged and leaned a hip against the sink, letting my posture reflect how relaxed I was. "If you ever want to talk, I'll listen. And if you don't? I won't ask."

 

She met my gaze directly, her eyes glistening with tears. "Thank you." She wiped at her face and cleared her throat. "It's Henry's bedtime. Why don't you go up and tuck him in. I need to..."

 

She trailed off. I smiled at her. "Thanks. Be right back."

 

The kid was in his room, finishing up the last of his homework, some paper he'd been assigned to write. He was already showered and brushed and in his pajamas. I smiled at that, letting the sight of the son I'd given up soothe aches in my soul I hadn't recognized.

 

"Hey, there, kid. I'm here to make sure you hit the rack." He nodded and finished his sentence, jotting down an extra note at the end. "Almost done with it?"

 

"Yeah, it's not due until next week, but I had an idea I wanted to get out." He yawned and stretched before crawling into bed. "Is my mom okay?"

 

I sat on the bed next to him, smoothing down his hair. I could see some hints of his sperm donor in his features, mostly me. And I could see Regina in every expression and movement he made. It warmed me from the inside. "Your mom will be okay. I promise."

 

I leaned down and pressed a kiss to his forehead, feeling all of the warmth and care that had grown during the months I'd gotten to know the whip smart little fucker.

 

A gust of wind erupted from the contact, a bright rainbow wave booming out from us.

 

His eyes shot open and he stared up at me, fear and excitement on his face. "You did it. You broke the curse!"

 

"Fuck."

 

His eyes widened at my cursing. I couldn't take the time to apologize. "I have to check on your mom. You will stay here. They only remember her as the Queen. We know she's more than that, right?" He nodded, the fear overwhelming the excitement as the ramifications began to sink in. I knew damned well he remembered the story of when the Queen had almost been burned at the stake as a witch. "I need to protect her and know you're okay. Keep watch from your window and yell when you see them coming."

 

I barely heeded his nod before I tore from the room back downstairs. The kitchen, living room and dining room were empty. I pushed open the door to the study to find her standing before the fire, her shoulders slumped.

 

"You broke the curse."

 

"I didn't mean to."

 

"Does he hate me?"

 

"No. And neither do I." Her head tilted toward me and I took a step into the room. "I'm sorry. I really didn't mean to break it."

 

Softly, she spoke half to herself. "It would have broken eventually." I stood there for a long moment, watching her as she watched the fire. "You should take him and get to safety."

 

"I'm not leaving you."

 

She turned to me, her eyes glittering in the firelight. "Henry needs to be kept safe. The curse may be broken but it's wrong. I have no magic. I can't protect him. You can. Take him and go!"

 

"I will not leave you." I stepped forward, almost touching her. "What kind of Savior would I be if I abandoned you?"

 

Her breath hitched in her throat and she turned away from me, resting her forehead on the mantel. "He's going to hate me. He's going to learn what I did and hate me."

 

I reached out, my hand pressing lightly against the small of her back. "He is your son. You two will get through this, together." A soft sob shook her shoulders. I slid my arms around her, and she turned into me, her tears wetting my shoulder. I'm not sure how long I held her. It felt all at once like an eternity and like it was over in a mere breath.

 

From the second floor, Henry called down. "They're coming!"

 

Regina pulled away from me with a jerk, wrapping her arms around herself, curling inward. I wanted desperately to pull her back into my arms. "It's too late."

 

I thought of something and smiled. "Not yet. Trust me."

 

I ran over to the kitchen and grabbed the sword. I scooped up the belt and strapped it on. Hit them where it's familiar. They would recognize the sword.

 

I hustled back over to the study and grabbed Regina's arm. She looked at me, coming back into herself, and something flickered across her face before it settled into an imperious mask. I lowered the sword and stepped into her, as close as I dared. "You remember what I said the last time I held this sword? I'm going to show you that I mean it. Stay behind me."

 

A murmur of a crowd started sounding outside, and I waited for her nod before moving to the foyer. I wasn't sure if they would knock or just bust in. We positioned ourselves at the base of the stairs.

 

A pounding at the door sounded.

 

I looked at her, nodded and adjusted my grip on my sword before striding forward and throwing the door open.

 

The doctor - Whale, formerly Frankenstein - stepped back, visibly alarmed to see me standing at the doorway brandishing a sword. The crowd gave a collective gasp as they saw me, and titters began to rumble through them.

 

"Move aside! She has to pay for what she's done!" Corpse stitcher had recovered nicely. Great.

 

"There isn't a single one of you that is making it past this door!" My shout was enough to fully unnerve the rest of the crowd. They began to press forward. I raised the sword and rested the point just below Whale's chin. "You must feel really fucking lucky today."

 

"She stole our homes from us! Our lives! She deserves to pay!" I smirked and flicked the tip of the sword against his collar. His button flung out and hit a woman on the forehead.

 

From the depths of the crowd, a shout was raised. "She's bewitched! Kill the queen!"

 

I laughed at that and rested the sword against my shoulder. "Bewitched? In a land without magic? I'm not bewitched." My eyes flicked across the crowd, taking in faces and memorizing them. Confusion reigned heavily. "I'm just the only one willing to stop and think."

 

"Get her!" Shouts began to rise from the crowd but they didn't move any closer, watching me standing relaxed at the doorway. "Get the witch!"

 

"HOLD!" The booming shout sounded from the end of the walkway. I was mildly impressed. Not something I ever expected to hear come out of Mary Margaret. Snow.

 

"Snow! She's there, she's in there, she-"

 

"Enough. We will deal with this and let you know our judgment. In the meantime, disperse to your homes and let me have time with my daughter." At Snow's announcement, the crowd erupted in whispers, snippets of "the savior!" and "come to rescue us!" reaching my ears.

 

They parted before my mother and father and allowed them to step forward unimpeded. Snow stopped before me, her eyes taking in my features as though we hadn't just parted from each other a couple hours previous. Fuck, it was awkward realizing that I'd been roommates with my mother.

 

"Emma."

 

I gave them a lopsided smile. The both of them rushed forward, forcing me to fling my sword arm up in the air to prevent from hitting them. I could feel David's hand curling around the back of my head. Snow was pressed against my side.

 

David grinned at me when he pulled back. "You look good in the family business."

 

I rolled my eyes and rested the sword against my shoulder again. The crowd had mostly dissipated while they were hugging me. I could feel Regina watching me from behind the door. "I am not shoveling dog shit all day." They laughed and I shook my head, turning and looking at Regina. I raised an eyebrow in question and tilted my head toward them. She nodded at my unspoken question. "Come on in. We've got a lot to talk about."

 

I led them into the house, closing and locking the door behind me. They halted at the sight of Regina.

 

I prodded them toward the study. "Come on, she won't bite." Thundering steps rolled down the stairs and suddenly Henry was tackling them. "Oh, son of a-"

 

"Grandma! Grandpa! Emma broke the curse! I told you she would!"

 

"Oh, Henry..." Snow cupped his cheek and smiled, tears filling her eyes as she saw him in a new light, knowing his relation to her.

 

"It's now past your bedtime. Curse breaking or no, you gotta sleep. We're gonna have a busy day tomorrow." He pouted and looked at his mother, hoping for a reprieve from my command. His mother stepped away from the stairs and gestured toward his room.

 

"Awww." He trudged his way to the stairs and paused for a second before taking the first step. He flung his arms around his mother and quietly murmured against her stomach. "I love you, mom."

 

With that done, he scampered upstairs. We all quietly ignored Regina gathering her composure as we took seats in the study. Snow was the first to break the silence.

 

"So. Why are you here?"

 

I chuckled softly. "We were following a lead on Kathryn's-" I glanced at Regina questioningly.

 

"Abigail."

 

"-Disappearance and Gold showed up with this." I rested a hand on the sword at my hip. "And claimed I could use it to find the answers we wanted. Then he proceeded to double cross me as soon as he saw I didn't kill-"

 

"Maleficent." Regina supplied helpfully.

 

"Who was a dragon at the time."

 

"You retrieved the golden egg from Maleficent without killing her?" David looked at me in wonder. "I've never heard of anyone doing that before."

 

I shrugged. "She knocked herself out, I just extracted it. Soon as it came out, she reverted to human. We dropped her at the hospital." I rolled my shoulders. It had been an eventful couple of days, not the least of which because my entire world had shifted. "So we came back here for dinner and I touched Henry's book and remembered you guys." They clutched hands together, leaning against one another. "I remembered you putting me in the wardrobe." I rubbed my forehead. "I'm still figuring out how I feel about that." They started, ready to defend themselves. "No, let me finish. I know why you did it. Fuck, I understand sacrificing for the greater good. I just...have to process it." I cleared my throat. "I want to get to know you guys. I want to learn about where you're from." I frowned. "Where I'm from." That remains, to this day, a mindfuck.

 

"Of course, Emma." Snow watched me tearfully. Regina tossed a box of tissues her way, huffing in annoyance. I grinned. The fucking softie. "What about Regina?"

 

"What about Regina?" I tilted my head, forcing them to spell out what they meant.

 

"Yes, dear Snow, what about me?" Regina's voice had dropped to a sultry purr. That was really not fair.

 

Snow turned a measuring stare at the woman who had cursed her for twenty eight years. "Are you and Henry safe?"

 

"As long as I'm around, they are." Regina's face was impassive. I hooked my thumbs into the pockets of my jeans and shifted on my feet, sheepish. "I swore to protect them."

 

Snow's shock was plainly visible. David looked back and forth between us before settling his gaze on my posture. Something clicked in him and he bit back a laugh. Snow turned to him and smacked his arm. "She gets this from you!"

 

"What did I do?!"

 

I smiled over at Regina. "Were they always like this?"

 

She sneered, the edges of her lips twitching to hide her smile. "Fairly consistently. What I wouldn't give for another sleeping curse."

 

I laughed and shook my head. "Yeah, to answer your question...Mom...they'll be safe." I looked over at Regina, smiling, one hand resting on the sword at my hip. "I'll make sure of it."


	11. Impossible to Maneuver, Situation Excellent, Am Attacking

Quiet mornings are my favorite. Or my second favorite. Quiet afternoons are good, too. Quiet nights, even better. Quiet meant that the town was humming along, just getting shit done. 

If my life wasn't so filled with moments of absolute terror, the quiet would be boring.

The first few months after the curse broke were insane. I hadn't thought it was possible for the sleepy little town of Storybrooke to be more insane, but somehow, it managed. People had remembered who they really were. Old grudges were reawakened, and new ones born. 

Gold - Rumplestiltskin - had gone quiet. Far too quiet. I knew the fucker was planning something. I could wait him out. I had time. Swearing to protect Regina and Henry had done a number on him. I was damned pleased when I told him. His voice had cracked like a teenager. 

The mystery of Kathryn's disappearance and Graham's murder was no closer to getting solved. All of our leads had gone cold after Kathryn came back. It didn't take long for her and David to file for a divorce and settle their business. Thankfully for them, they'd lived long enough separated that it was a formality. Soon after that, she started seeing a gym teacher. She and Regina would meet. Apparently, they got to be good friends, which surprised the hell outta David.

Mom and I had a brief trip to the Enchanted Forest. I met Regina's mom. Piece of work, she was. I met Hook, the slimy bastard. Then they'd come to Storybrooke and tried to wipe us out of existence. I'm still not clear on how we got that all sorted, but at the end of day, we came out alive, and the Queen of Hearts was no more. The town had more or less settled into a detente, continuing to run the way it always had, with the addition of some memories.

Regardless, it was time to face the day.

Ruby always brewed my coffee hot and strong in the morning. Good thing too. I'd need it for what I needed to ask Regina today. The door chime jangled as I pushed in the door.

"Ems!" Ruby waved from behind the counter, rag in her hand wiping it down. A couple of the early risers were at their usual spots, two sitting one stool apart on the right of the restaurant, one in a booth digging into his breakfast. I took my stool on the left, an empty booth behind me and the hallway to the bathroom to my left. Ruby slid a full mug my way and I gratefully took a drink. 

"Mmm...bean juice." Ruby stood grinning at me. I hadn't done anything yet so that was a bit weird. "What's up, Rubes?" 

"Not much. You gonna take the Mayor her coffee today?" I shrugged. It'd serve as a good excuse to talk to her, but it'd be damned more difficult to be any kinda smooth carrying a cup of coffee. At the same time, showing up empty handed and asking for a favor would probably not go over very well. 

"Yeah, gimme her usual. You got any of them muffin things she likes?" Ruby nodded, smirking as she wiped down the espresso machine. "What's with the grin, Rubes? You know something I don't?"

"'Course not. How'd horseback riding go yesterday?"

I downed half my coffee and rubbed the back of my neck. "I fell off the horse when trying to dismount." Ruby threw her head back and laughed as I glared. "That's pretty much exactly the same reaction Regina had, seeing me fall into that pile of hay." I rolled my eyes. "At least the kid wasn't there to see me fall this time."

"Its a good thing you have so much training in learning how to fall and take hits." Ruby leaned over the counter and refilled my mug. "That's almost as good as when you tried to take her sailing and she called you a fanboy of the worthless pirate." 

I covered my face with my hands, groaning at the memory. "God, don't remind me. That sucked so bad. I didn't know he'd just propositioned her with that. Fucking sail jockey."

Ruby waved her hand. "It goes so much better when you just try to stick to what you know."

I snorted and took a sip of my coffee. I mumbled around the ceramic. "What, traveling to far off places, meeting new people, and killing them?"

"You forgot being eye candy and looking good in blues." Ruby winked. I rolled my eyes. 

"Like that ever gets me anywhere." I downed the rest of my second cup and set it down, tossing a tenner on the counter with a sigh. "Alright. Can't put this off. Can you get me her bribe?"

The door jangled and I turned, smiling as I spotted Archie. "Hey Archie. How's it going?" 

He smiled at me, walking closer. "It goes well. How are you and Regina doing?"

I shrugged. "I'll find out in a few. Taking her some breakfast to get her to agree to a favor. Did Henry's session go well yesterday?"

"Yes!" He smiled at Ruby as she set a cup of tea down next to him, and my coffee and muffin thing wrapped up to go next to me. "I was surprised to see you not come back with Regina, though."

I shrugged. "I needed a shower."

Archie's eyes widened. "Ah."

"Well. I gotta get going. Have a good day, Archie. See ya Rubes!"

The warming air of the morning met my face as I left the diner. I took a deep breath, inhaling the salt scent coming off the bay. It felt clean. Comforting. Like home. Definitely a far cry from the sandbox. 

I had a good life in Storybrooke. After the initial clusterfuck of figuring out that my kid actually was telling the truth about that curse, breaking said curse, and then saving the Queen, it had kind of settled.

Until the next time I had to save her.

And the next. 

And then the following one as well.

Somehow along the way, I'd starting really liking her.

Really liking her. 

Hell, the woman raised an amazing kid. Sure as hell wasn't my blood that did that. He'd settled a bit, too. Definitely was making less with the "my mom's the evil queen" thing and more with the "my mom's my mom". 

He'd kinda been acting weird recently. Not any less loving, just...weird. The other night he'd come in to talk to us as we were sitting on the couch. Regina had a weakness for Grey's Anatomy, so we were watching the latest ep. She'd been wearing the three inch heels that make her ass look fantastic and her feet hurt, so I was giving her a massage. He came over, gave us each a hug, then said he'd be in his room.

It was kinda confusing.

He usually sat with us.

Ah, well. Maybe I could bring it up to Regina if she said yes. And if I wasn't too distracted by her cleavage. Woman's boobs should be listed as weapons of mass distraction.

I entered her office and knocked at her door. Normally I'd let her secretary announce me, but she wouldn't be in for another fifteen minutes. A soft "Come in" sounded through the door, and I swung it open.

She sat behind her desk, that expensive ass pen I'd gotten her for her birthday pressed to her lips as she frowned at the file before her. She glanced up, and her frown slid away for that smile she only ever seemed to have for me.

"Hey. Brought you some coffee. And breakfast if you haven't had any." I handed her the cup and the bag, her fingers brushing against mine. It felt like they caught on my calluses. I should probably do something about those. Did she like them?

"Morning, Sheriff." Regina took a sip of her coffee and closed her eyes, smiling. 

I so got the right coffee.

"I, uh, need a favor." One imperious eyebrow arched at me and I laughed nervously. I leaned on one of the chairs in front of her desk, my feet shifting beneath me. "One of my buddies hit me up last night. I don't know if you know much about the military weddings of this world, but, um, when a Marine gets married, they have their friends do-" I gestured awkwardly with my hands, trying to indicate what I meant.

"The sword arch?" Regina's smile had not faltered. Coupled with those damned black frame glasses she insisted on wearing when she was doing a full day of paperwork, I was a fucking hot mess.

"Yeah. I've been asked to be in the wedding and do that." 

Regina hummed softly. "And what, praytell, favor does that require of me?"

I rubbed the back of my neck. "Well, see, its like this. When we were in the sandbox, Tig always said that if one of us got married and the other one showed up single, it'd-" I coughed and gestured, trying to figure out a way to phrase this without Tig's usual litany of fucks.

"Be awkward?" Regina's smile shifted to a smirk. "So you need a date."

I flushed. "Y-yeah, pretty much."

"So you came to me."

I looked at her. Regina didn't deserve this half assed kind of asking for our first date. I inhaled sharply. "Regina? Would you please be my date for Tig's wedding, and save me from a world of hurt?"

She rose smoothly from behind her desk and walked around it. Maybe stalked would be a better description. She slid one hand up my arm, resting it on my shoulder. She pulled me slightly down, her cheek against mine. 

"Yes."

I flushed. 

Her lips pressed to my cheek.

I exhaled shakily. 

"Thank you." I wrapped my hand around her wrist, rubbing against the pulse point gently. "May I come over tonight and tell you more of the details of what you've just agreed to?"

Regina smiled as she pulled away. "Dinner is at six thirty. Don't be late." My eyes drifted over her back and ass as she walked away from me. Jesus fuck, this was going to kill me.

"Six thirty. See you then."

She'd said yes. 

She'd kissed me.

Holy shit.

It was a really good thing that it was quiet. That meant Dad would be at the shelter. I took off for the shelter, my mind spinning. 

Fucking Tig. Some of the shit we'd said to each other back in the day that we'd do...

I was very glad that Regina had said yes.

The front of the shelter was empty as I walked in, so I continued to the back. He was probably running the dogs after their morning feeding. I pushed through the door and grinned as I spotted him, puppies and dogs of all sizes wiggling over him as he sat on the floor of the indoor playroom.

I waved at him through the glass and he brightened, carefully removing the dogs from him and standing, rushing out of the door to meet me.

"Emma!" He wrapped me up in a hug, his hand cradling the back of my head as he always did.

"Hi Dad." I hugged him back, taking a shaky breath as I let the enormity of what I'd done wash over me. "Got a minute?"

"Absolutely. Come and sit down with me." He gestured to the bench next to the playroom. "I just put them in there a few minutes ago so we've got about twenty minutes. What's on your mind?"

I leaned forward on my knees and wrung my hands together. It had taken a while, but I know Dad was definitely better disposed to Regina than Mom. I needed his help.

"I asked Regina to go on a date with me."

He nodded and rubbed my back. "I take it its a special date?"

I laughed softly. "Squadmate's getting married." 

"Wow."

"Yeah." I glanced over at him with a grin. "She said yes."

He smiled. "So she'll be going with you to a wedding."

I watched the puppies for a moment. The St. Bernard was all paws and awkward flailings. "A military wedding."

"Are you worried about what your shield mates will say?"

I shrugged, his old school phrasing still as weird as the first time, but I'd gotten used to it. "Yes and no. They're all a bunch of bastards, so." He chuckled. He knew exactly the kind of shit I was talking about. Being in service never really changes. "But Regina's classy. She can...she'll be able to hold her own." I dropped my head into my hands as I remembered. "Oh fuck, the officer's wives. Yeah."

I could hear the smile in Dad's voice as he spoke. "Somehow I don't think the Evil Queen is going to have any problem handling a couple of officer's wives."

I let out a short sharp bark of laughter and turned to him. "Seriously."

We sat in companionable silence for a few moments, watching the dogs play.

"Think Mom's gonna have any problems with it?"

His large hand clapped on my shoulder as he laughed. "She's had the last three months to get over it." He stood, grinning. "Go talk to her. See what she says. They've got an in-service day today."

I smiled and stood, wrapping him in another hug. "Thanks, Dad."

He waved and went back to the dogs. I had a mother to wrangle.

I'd not exactly been the princess Mom had expected when I showed back up. Hell, after the curse broke, I hadn't even been a princess, I'd been the Savior. Still am, apparently, if the number of times I've saved Regina's ass were any indication. 

But I was and am her kid. And that's always been enough.

I knocked at the doorframe of her classroom, waiting for her to look up. "Hey, Mom."

"Emma!" She dropped her paperwork and rushed to me, wrapping me in a big hug. "What brings you by?"

I grinned sheepishly. "I got asked to be in a friend's wedding."

She squealed in excitement and pulled me over to her desk where there was one extra chair. She shoved me into it as she spoke excitedly. "Oh my god! Who, do we know them? Is this one of your old friends? Oooh, do we need to go dress shopping? Tell me everything!"

I couldn't help but laugh at her reaction. "It's a military wedding. I'll be in my blues." Her eyes shimmered with tears at the thought, her hand covering her mouth. "Hey now, you've had a chance to see me in those, you know how good they look. With the workouts I've been getting between here and the Enchanted Forest, they still fit." 

She sniffed and dabbed at her eyes with a tissue. "That is..." She shook her head. I reached over and covered one of her hands with my own.

"Aw, come on. Its tradition. Besides, that's not why I really came by." Her head tilted to the side in question. "I asked Regina to come with me." Before she could say anything, I forged ahead, hoping my explanation would make her okay with it. Dad had been right, in some senses. Mom had definitely been warming up to me hanging out with Regina, but this was a date. "Tig is the one getting married and if I don't bring someone, I'm gonna be in a world of hurt. Taking Regina..." 

She squeezed my hand. "She agreed?"

Remembering Regina's kiss, I blushed. "Yeah."

I'd never seen that smile on Mom's face before. It was that insufferable knowing look that said I was missing something. "Do your friends realize..."

"What? That I've been living as a small town sheriff, but I'm really the daughter of Snow White and Prince Charming? Hasn't really come up."

Her shove at my shoulder was good natured by the smile she was still sporting. "That you might be able to actually catch someone like Regina."

I looked down at my hands, loosely threaded together between my knees as I sat leaning forward. "That's part of why its so important to bring her. They knew, about Neal and Henry, and what went down back in the day. When I-" I cut myself off, looking out the window at the birds that always hovered just outside. "A lot of things become clear. In certain situations. Everything of who I am now is because of what has happened in my life up to this point. It's not about the past. It's about the future." I couldn't look up at her as one of her hands came to rest, warm and comforting and motherly on my own. "I haven't always made the best choices. Who I was? I'm glad I'm not that person anymore. But that was who they knew. Even if it's just for me, I need to make it clear how far I've come."

"Oh, honey..." Her arms wrapped around me. I let them. 

Sometimes, all that's really needed is a hug.


	12. Surrounded, That Simplifies the Problem

The day of Tig's rehearsal dinner dawned bright and fucking early. Regina and I had made it down to Maryland early and taken in some of the sights of Washington DC. If it hadn't been such a formal occassion - and hadn't been with my former squadmates - I would have suggested we bring Henry with us. As it was, I wasn't risking him being anywhere near them. Fuck knew what kind of lies they would fill his head with about me. It was bad enough that Regina was going to meet them. 

Fuck, Regina was going to meet my squadmates. Tig had included all the best, and me. This was going to be painful.

For the rehearsal dinner, we met up in the lobby of the hotel. The fuckface had been smart enough to have the hotel cater the entire damned thing. Seems the bride was from money and her daddy insisted she have the best. 

Regina watched me during the rehearsal of the ceremony. If she was surprised by how well we all stood at attention next to Tig, she didn't show it. It only took about a half hour to run through it, but that was long enough for Jumper to start sniffing around my woman.

Hooter nudged me as soon as I noticed. I grunted.

"She was stupid enough to come with you, it's not like she's gonna leave with Jumper."

I growled low back at her. "As long as that fucker keeps her hands to herself, we'll be fine."

Hooter chuckled and let me stew. The rehearsal wasn't over quick enough for me. As soon as we were released, I stalked my way over to where Regina had been listening to Jumper talking story. I glared at my Marine. "Dinner's in about an hour. They've got some additional logistics to work out. How ya doing, Jumper?"

The slight woman grinned at me. "Great, Sergeant. I was just telling your woman about my abuela's tamales. She just gave me the recipe, and I shared it with her. So now you can get some Mexican heat in your life again." 

That immediately changed my demeanor. I reached out and grabbed Jumper around the shoulders and attacked her with a hug. Her abuela's tamales were the most amazing things I'd ever put in my mouth before I went to Storybrooke. 

"You did good, Sergeant." Jumper's whispered words left me mildly confused, but I released her and turned to Regina, who was watching us with a quiet smile. I extended a hand to her. 

"Ready to go?"

She placed her hand in mine and stood, her skirt falling gracefully around her knees. What I wouldn't give to kiss a path up those thighs...

"Thank you, dear."

We took a walk around the hotel grounds before the dinner. A fountain stood in one corner of the gardens. It reminded me of one of the courtyards in the Enchanted Forest. Regina leaned against my side and murmured, "It looks exactly like the one at the Summer Palace."

I grinned. "That is exactly what I was thinking." I reached down and took her hand in mine. It was risky, but hell, if it was our first date, I might as well do it up. "I was right, you know. About you." Her hand slackened in mine. I tightened my grip. "The stories in the book don't tell shit about what you went through."

Her hand reformed around my own and I smiled.

"Thank you."

"You're welcome."

The rehearsal dinner went just fine. Toasts, speeches, good food. Some wine flowed. We didn't tie one on until the reception. The wedding was beautiful. I'd never seen Tig look like that.

"And do you, Mathilde Kearney Cavanaugh, take this woman to be your wife, to have and to hold..."

The ceremony was beautiful. I was definitely glad that Tig had decided we'd all wear the pants instead of the skirts. Those things were fucking uncomfortable. At the processional out of the church, they walked beneath our drawn swords. I'd driven Regina nuts with that. I don't think she knew what she was agreeing to when she said I could practice in her backyard. I'd spent hours calling and drawing my sword. Dad had helped by calling cadence for me a couple times. He had a good voice for it.

Hooter and I dropped our swords, stopping Tig and her new wife before they could walk all the way through. I took my blade and smacked Tig's wife once on the backside, welcoming her to military life. I didn't dare look over at Regina. I could feel her staring heated daggers at me.

At the reception, the speeches went by quickly. I, thankfully, didn't have to give one. It would have consisted of awkward stammering. Throughout the dinner service, I kept my eye on my date, sitting nearby with Tig's family. The old school Irish seemed to be taken with Regina, and I wished I could be there with her. Not nearly quickly enough, it was time to dance and party. 

The thing about Marines and parties is, when we are given the opportunity to do so, we fucking love it. 

As soon as I could, I claimed Regina for a dance. We glided and twirled around the room, and fuck I wished I could have seen her in the Enchanted Forest. I just knew those dresses were killer. I ached deep inside to see her in one of those. Her hand curled against the back of my neck, exposed by the tight bun I had worked my hair into to match regs. 

Her body pressed against mine in delicious ways, and I couldn't keep the grin off my face. At the end of the dance, I brought her hands up to my face and kissed the back of them. From across the room came a laughing shout of "Fucking Paladin found a fucking Queen to guard!"

Regina stiffened slightly before relaxing and raising an eyebrow at me. "It was, uh, my nickname. In the service."

She stepped in closer to me. We were at the edge of the dance floor and didn't impede others from dancing, thankfully. I wouldn't have been able to move, regardless. Her breasts in that dress were dangerously close to brushing against my chest. "You were called Paladin by your friends?" Her hand came up to caress my cheek. "I'll have to interrogate them later for stories of your feats." Her other hand pressed against my shoulder, her thumb brushing against the edge of my awards and medals pinned to my chest. Her nails dug into the back of my neck and I hissed in startlement. "And find out if you've ever sworn fealty to another."

"Only you. I've only sworn to you."

"And before we even started dating. How impulsive of you, Miss Swan." She leaned in and pressed a short, meaningful kiss to my lips. 

My mind was spinning. I couldn't form words. I just stood, grinning stupidly.

She reached up with one finger and traced a line across my jawline. "I've grown tired of waiting."

"Jesus Paladin, that's not how you treat a Queen! Get the lady a suite!" I was going to murder Hooter. I was going to lay in wait for the opportune moment and just straight up fucking murder that cliterfering fuckhead. 

Regina had turned away from me, giving Hooter that hot "I am in power here" glare. She stood stock still, looking like she was about to piss herself. Tig strode up and clapped one large hand against Hooter's shoulder.

"Still running your mouth?"

"Who?" You can see where Hooter picked up her nickname.

"Fuckhead." Tig turned to greet Regina. "Hello, ma'am. Emma has told us nothing about you, and I assure you, that is simply because Emma is an idiot and afraid." Regina raised an eyebrow at that, a delicious smirk beginning to curve her lips. "She knew that bringing anyone around us would likely scare them off. She wanted you hooked before one of us could try and steal you."

Regina tossed her head back and laughed. I stepped up and slid an arm around her waist, pulling her against my side. "So you are the infamous Tig. She speaks highly of you, all lies, I assume?"

Tig grinned and punched my shoulder. "I like her. Keep her."

I smiled at Regina. "I plan to."

"How'd you two meet?"

I cleared my throat and scratched the side of my neck. Regina chuckled and leaned further into me. "My son decided one day to seek out his birth mother and bring her home. Once she arrived and disrupted my orderly town-"

"Hey!"

"Hush, dear. You did." Regina turned back to Tig, shrugging lazily. "She never left. After a while, I refused to let her leave. And finally, about three months ago, she surprised me by asking me on a date."

"Paladin grew a pair?!"

Regina waved her hand. "Naturally, I said no at first. The Mayor? Dating the Sheriff? Plus, there's unresolved family history that goes back decades. Suffice it to say that I simply did not see the benefit of agreeing to any activity outside of work. Too much baggage." She turned to me, smiling into my eyes. "But she kept asking, always politely, always taking a no even though she knew I was lying." Regina sure as fuck wasn't lying as she was saying this now. "And then, two months ago, I said yes. And its been a whirlwind ever since." Her hand snaked up and grasped my ear in the patented Mom grab. "But if you think for one second you will ever get me to agree to being smacked on the behind with a sword, I will destroy you if it's the last thing I do."

Her voice had gone low and menacing as she said the last part. I glanced around, taking in other's reactions to hearing the Evil Queen threaten somebody. Hooter looked like she was about to cream her pants. 

I schooled my features into a subservient mask. "As you wish, my Queen."

Everybody laughed, and Regina released my ear.

It wasn't until later, when we were alone in our hotel room that I really let her words sink in.

Regina had said we'd been dating for two months.

She hadn't been lying.

I thought back on what we'd done over the last two months. On the brief interludes of panic, rescue, and togetherness we'd shared. I thought about how much more freely Regina was willing to be with her touch. I thought about how she pressed a kiss to my cheek when she accepted my request for a date to this wedding. 

Then I realized that not only had I brought her to a wedding, I'd brought her to a lesbian wedding. 

I was a fucking moron.

I was a shit stained ankle grabbing idiot.

The most captivating, resilient woman in all the realms had been working on the assumption that we'd been dating for two months and I'd had no fucking idea.

I'd have to rectify that.

"Emma? I can't reach my zipper."

I sat up on the edge of the bed and pulled Regina back, her thighs brushing against my woolen pants. I lowered the zipper and my eyes widened. 

She turned and pushed me back on the bed with a single finger as she straddled my hips. "I think it's high time that the Queen honored her Paladin." 

Much later, my heart rate slowing, I grinned into the darkness.

**Works inspired by this one:**

  * [Always Earned, Never Given - Manips](https://archiveofourown.org/works/2311352) by [Dragoon23](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Dragoon23/pseuds/Dragoon23)
  * [Always Earned, Never Given Cover Art](https://archiveofourown.org/works/2328941) by [Rtarara](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Rtarara/pseuds/Rtarara)




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